It’s no secret that the summer blockbuster The Witch did not do well in theaters this summer with only about $40 million (domestically $21.4 million and foreign $15.3 million). However, from my personal review and also a 91% rating on Rotten Tomatoes, I highly suggest watching this movie. With the mysterious trailers alluding to a baby disappearing into thin air while playing peek-a-boo, a family thrown to exile for whatever strict puritan law they have disobeyed, and what looks like the family going insane in the woods.
In the trailer, this movie is described as a “Nightmarish picture that will make your blood run cold” and “one of the most genuinely unnerving horror films in recent history.” On both of these accounts, I will have to argue. In my opinion, Sinister made my blood run cold and was incredibly nightmarish. In the trailer, this movie was also described as “soul-shaking” and “unforgettable.” This I can completely agree with. I have seen this movie only once and I keep rolling it around in my head over and over again.
The reason this is so unforgettable to me is because in way, we can all relate to this movie and it’s main protagonist, Thomasin (actresses name: Anya Taylor-Joy).
This movie begins with the father, mother, and their four children (a daughter (Thomasin), a son (Caleb), and a set of twins (Mercy & Jonas); in that order by age) being held at a puritan trial that ends in the family’s banishment from the settlement.The family finds a plot of land on the outskirts of a forest area and makes a home for themselves and during this time, their mother gives birth to a son they call Samuel.
While Thomasin is watching Samuel by the woods, he mysteriously disappears and after searching for days, the family found no trace of him. Then, in an attempt to find Samuel and also to bring back food for their family, Thomasin and Caleb ride into the forbidden woods together with the family horse and Thomasin returns, frightened and alone. Facing what they believe is the Witch of the Woods causing the disappearances, their crops failing, and winter upon them, the family is desperate for answers.
With Paranoia setting in with the family, they are quick to blame Thomasin for their misfortunes and accuse her of being a witch because of her being with the boys while they went missing. She tries and proves her innocence anyway possible but her family does not believe her.
***SPOILER ALERT***
In the end, Thomasin is the last one standing. She is alone on the family farm, no family or settlement to turn to for guidance, and she faces certain death is she stays or if she goes to find help on foot. The solution presented to her is something that she never thought would happen. Their billy goat, Black Phillip, comes to her and speaks to her as the devil himself about life with him and others, promising a life full of wonders, beauty, and acceptance. Alone, and nowhere to go, she accepts this. She follows Black Phillip into the woods with the others he has gathered to find a group of women, naked, and dancing around a fire wildly; and she joins them.
Thomasin is like many of the young and impressionable people in today’s society. Some are put down at every turn and feel isolated from their friends and family because of what they believe is right and what they choose to do with their life. This can cause some to turn to others for acceptance, like Thomasin did with Black Phillip. She needed to survive and craved acceptance and life; like we all do.
Being a once young, impressionable college freshman, I can relate to this. When a person is young and impressionable, they will do whatever they deem necessary to find their place and “survive” in the world. In college, I did just that. I was not great at making new friends and the friends I had made were not the best influence. What made things worse was that they were good at making friends and I went along for the ride because at the time, I truly believed that it was better to have “okay” friends than none at all.
As I grow older, and what I believe to be wiser, I realize that all this time, my mother was right. She told me that I should stop seeing these people and work to distance myself from them. I told her that I thought it was better to have some friends that weren’t all that great than none at all. And at the time, I truly believed that. They were all I had in the college dorms. Now that I am older and have more choices, I realize that I can surround myself with other things and animals and be completely content with myself.
Friends are fantastic at any age, but realizing who and what is good and what is not good for you is the thing that will get you. Thomasin was a young and impressionable girl and turned to what she believed she needed at the time rather than trying to find her own path.
Many people face this dilemma every day and may choose a path that is not good for them but may get so far down that path, there is no turning back. We have to remember that we should do what is best for us and not what we believe is best to be “accepted.” If you have no where to go but know that the path laid at your feet is only there so you can be accepted, reevaluate and come back. This will not be the only path for you. Patience and determination to make your life they way you want it and need it will prove to be the best path and the most rewarding path.
Always remember, what is good for others may not be good for you; and that is okay. Make your own way and everything will fall into place as it should.
