Horror has come back in full force this year after the release of the critically acclaimed Cannes hit It Follows, and now with the Sundance marvel The Witch, a film which earned its director and writer, Robert Eggers, the Best Director prize at the hallowed film festival. The movie’s first trailer manages to go beyond spooky in its short 2-minute run time, making it clear as to why it has been accumulating so much buzz.
The Witch has been dubbed ‘A New England Folk Tale’ where a husband and wife and their five children live alone on the edge of a deep forest. When their newborn son suddenly goes missing while under the care of their teenage daughter, the family slowly drifts apart and turns on each other under clouds of suspicion, anxiety, and disbelief.
The trailer paints the film as a unique combination of films like The Village and The Exorcist, with its own stylized perspective. Jarin Blashke’s (I Believe in Unicorns) dreamy grey-scale cinematography stands out right away, transporting the audience into a new time, place, and mentality.
The film stars Kate Dickie (Prometheus), Ralph Ineson (the Harry Potter series), and Anya Taylor-Joy (TV’s Atlantis). A24 picked up the film at Sundance and plans to release it some time in 2016. Until then, it will make its way to Toronto International Film Festival audiences this coming September.
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