The VVitch: A New England Folktale (R)
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I suppose first I should say this is actually called "The Witch," but the title is stylized to look like it's spelled with two V's instead of one W. I don't know why that is, but I like it, and I also like pronouncing it with two V's. Anyway, it came out in 2016, but I didn't see it until 2019 (on Halloween). It also inspired me to start a new subsection of "scary movies" reviews, for folk horror.

It's set in the 1630s, beginning with the conclusion of some sort of trial. The details are unclear, but a man named William has some sort of theological dispute with... well, his whole village, I guess. So he and his whole family are exiled. This includes his wife, Katherine, their oldest daughter, Thomasin (Anya Taylor-Joy), middle child Caleb, and youngest children, fraternal twins Mercy and Jonas. Right after leaving the village, there's a brief scene where they all bow down while looking at some woods in the distance, and I have no idea what that was about, but some eerie music played that totally reminded me of the music from 2001: A Space Odyssey, whenever there's a monolith around. Anyway, I guess William and Katherine didn't want their kids to ever go into the woods.

William and Katherine have a baby named Samuel, who is one day kidnapped by an old, naked witch who lives in the forest. I definitely think she must have used magic to spirit him away, because Thomasin's eyes were off him for literally one second in which he disappeared without a trace. It's not until a bit later that we see the witch, and what she does to Samuel. Which is pretty horrible. Anyway, the loss of the baby sends Katherine into an extended period of grieving. And, um, the twins are always goofing around or whatever, and they annoy Thomasin, who at one point jokingly tells Mercy that she's a witch, to scare her into behaving. Later, Caleb disappears in the woods, and is taken in by the witch (who initially appears to him as a beautiful young woman). He later returns, but he's sick and delirious. And Mercy tells their parents that Thomasin is a witch. And Thomasin accuses Mercy and Jonas of being witches, since they often claim to have conversations with their goat, Black Phillip, who Thomasin suggests could be, like, the Devil, or some demon, in disguise. I dunno, it's all very weird.

Well, I don't want to reveal any more of the plot. But while it's mostly pretty slow to get around to any actual horror, it's definitely a disturbing film on a number of levels. And I'm glad to have seen it.