The Witch
A24 | Release Date: February 19, 2016 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
83
METASCORE
Universal acclaim based on 46 Critic Reviews
Positive:
43
Mixed:
3
Negative:
0
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
100
Wall Street JournalJoe MorgensternFeb 18, 2016
If the story’s psychodynamics are familiar, Mr. Eggers makes them seem newly discovered. The intensity of his writing and direction, as well as the eerie austerity of Jarin Blaschke’s cinematography, Craig Lathrop’s production design and Mark Korven’s music, all conspire to create a film of exceptional originality. Read full review
100
New York PostSara StewartFeb 18, 2016
It’s a creepy little gem, and its imagery will stay with you long after you’ve left the theater. Read full review
100
Chicago TribuneMichael PhillipsFeb 18, 2016
Writer-director Robert Eggers' "New England folk tale" film isn't likely to go bonkers in the popular culture the way "Blair Witch" did. But it's an infinitely richer, more meticulous, more elegant and more unnerving horror film — the best since "The Babadook," and very likely a 21st century classic in its hardy yet malleable genre. Read full review
100
HitfixDrew McWeenyJan 26, 2015
Eggers manages to create a sense of mood and dread that is so suffocating at times that it feels like we're watching something genuinely transgressive, something we should not be seeing. Read full review
100
The PlaylistRodrigo PerezJan 26, 2015
A deeply impressive first film by director Robert Eggers, “The Witch” is immaculately constructed, evinces an exquisitely ominous tone, and is unequivocally haunting. It’s exacting look at the dissonance of human nature is terrifying. Read full review
100
Time OutDavid EhrlichJan 26, 2015
The Witch is one of the most genuinely unnerving horror films in recent memory because Eggers has the guts to earn your fear. Read full review
91
Tampa Bay TimesSteve PersallFeb 18, 2016
Eggers' chilling debut is a small masterpiece of atmosphere. Read full review
91
Entertainment WeeklyChris NashawatyFeb 17, 2016
What makes this chillingly creepy little black-magic folk tale work so beautifully is its evocative sense of time and place. Read full review
91
IndieWireEric KohnJan 26, 2015
The Witch becomes a focused portrait of fixed rituals crumbling in the face of inexplicable forces, evoking the fear of change lurking in the shadows at every moment. Despite the setting, its scares are uniquely contemporary. Read full review
90
The VergeBryan BishopFeb 21, 2016
Eggers’ filmmaking is bold, confident, and endlessly patient, luring the viewer into a world that is seductive in its barren beauty and measured pace. Read full review
90
The New York TimesManohla DargisFeb 18, 2016
With a gentle rap-rapping, Mr. Eggers intensifies the shivers with art-film moves, genre shocks and an excellent cast that includes a progressively rowdy menagerie. Read full review
90
SlateDavid EhrlichFeb 18, 2016
Robert Eggers' uncompromising directorial debut is a bracingly new experience that boils with the primordial fever of America's original sins. Read full review
90
Screen DailyTim GriersonFeb 14, 2016
The Witch’s greatest asset is its precisely controlled menace, and so even when nothing terrifying is happening, it feels like something ominous could be unleashed at any moment. Read full review
90
VarietyJustin ChangJan 26, 2015
Writer-director Robert Eggers’ impressive debut feature walks a tricky line between disquieting ambiguity and full-bore supernatural horror, but leaves no doubt about the dangerously oppressive hold that Christianity exerted on some dark corners of the Puritan psyche. Read full review
88
USA TodayBrian TruittFeb 19, 2016
It winds up working as a ominous climax, however, and you’re left wanting to avoid any and all farm animals for a while — which for this excellent piece of filmmaking is high praise. Read full review
88
Philadelphia InquirerMolly EichelFeb 19, 2016
The Witch is a stressful movie to watch, and that's meant as the highest praise. Read full review
88
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)Barry HertzFeb 18, 2016
Disturbing and taut, Eggers’s direction is almost without fault. His only mistake lies in the film’s final 30 seconds, where all the implied horror of the family’s plight becomes just a shade too explicit. Read full review
88
Rolling StonePeter TraversFeb 18, 2016
A crafty calling card brimming with beauty and terror. Eggers pulls us into the supernatural with subtle cunning and meticulous attention to detail. Read full review
88
RogerEbert.comSimon AbramsFeb 18, 2016
The Witch, a feminist narrative that focuses on an American colonial family as they undergo what seems to be an otherworldly curse, is more like a sermon. Read full review
88
Boston GlobeTy BurrFeb 18, 2016
This startling, assured feature debut from New Hampshire-born, Brooklyn-based writer-director Robert Eggers has one foot in early American history and another in legend and fairy tale. Read full review
88
The Seattle TimesSoren AndersenFeb 18, 2016
Eggers’ depiction of the family’s psychological decay and his relentless piling up of deeply disturbing imagery make The Witch an unnerving and fresh-feeling horror masterwork. Read full review
88
Chicago Sun-TimesBill ZweckerFeb 18, 2016
This is a very promising first feature by Eggers and showcases some exceptional acting. Read full review
83
The A.V. ClubA.A. Dowd Feb 17, 2016
The result is a horror movie that comes dangerously close to showing sympathy for the real devils, the kind that burned witches instead of instructing them. Good thing it’s scary. Read full review
80
EmpireChris Hewitt (1)Mar 7, 2016
A hugely assured debut, The Witch is a beautiful, bleak brainworm that will haunt you for days. Read full review
80
Total FilmJamie GrahamMar 7, 2016
Robert Eggers’ measured, meticulous debut builds into one of the most genuinely scary horror movies of recent years. Read full review
80
The New YorkerAnthony LaneFeb 22, 2016
This is a scary movie and a serious one, because it lures us into the minds, and the earthly domains, of those who are themselves scared, night and day, that they have forfeited the mercies of God. It takes an original movie to remind us of original sin. Read full review
80
SalonAndrew O'HehirFeb 19, 2016
Like any truly successful horror film, The Witch operates on various levels at once and is open to interpretation. Read full review
80
Los Angeles TimesRobert AbeleFeb 18, 2016
In a way, the movie is a tug of war between the fruits of exhaustive research into old-world madness — which plays out most prominently in the richly possessed performances (particularly Taylor-Joy and young Scrimshaw) and the evocative frontier trappings — and an entertainer's pulpier instincts. Read full review
80
Arizona RepublicBill GoodykoontzFeb 18, 2016
With incredible attention to detail and an unwavering commitment to the world he has created, Eggers slowly, surely builds tension until it's almost unbearable. And that's delightful, if you're a horror fan. It's a terrific film. Read full review
80
TheWrapDan CallahanFeb 16, 2016
This is the kind of serious horror movie that will live in your head for days afterward, like a bad dream that’s difficult to shake. Read full review
80
TimeStephanie ZacharekFeb 13, 2016
Although Eggers is discreet – the things you don’t see are more horrifying than those you do – the picture’s relentlessness sometimes feels like torment. But if you can survive it, The Witch is a triumph of tone. Read full review
80
The GuardianJordan HoffmanJan 26, 2015
This movie may be too slow and verbose to be the next breakout horror hit, but its focus on themes over plot is what elevates it to something near greatness. Read full review
78
Austin ChronicleMarc SavlovFeb 17, 2016
Steeped in bleak, ominous atmosphere and period-perfect costumes and design, this is one of those rare genre films that gets under your skin and stays there. Read full review
75
Charlotte ObserverLawrence ToppmanFeb 25, 2016
The Witch is a horrifying film, one unique in my experience. Read full review
75
St. Louis Post-DispatchCalvin WilsonFeb 18, 2016
Unsettling yet mesmerizing, The Witch is more of an art film than a horror flick. Read full review
75
Washington PostAnn HornadayFeb 18, 2016
For fans of horror at its most sinister, The Witch is not to be missed. It casts a spell that lingers long after its most disquieting mists have cleared. Read full review
75
Movie NationRoger MooreFeb 16, 2016
It’s not edge-of-your-seat alarming and its jolts are more creepy than shocking. But for all its period detail and head games, “Witch” works on the most primitive level. Read full review
75
Slant MagazineJesse CataldoFeb 15, 2016
The reworking of a tired horror trope into a transformed feminist symbol stands out as an impressive act of genre revisionism. Read full review
75
The Film StageJordan RaupFeb 14, 2016
Eggers, whose production and costume design background is on full display in the austerely crafted setting, effectively builds the tension of this divine battle, one which isn’t scary, but surely memorable. Read full review
70
New York Magazine (Vulture)David EdelsteinFeb 17, 2016
To my taste, the movie finally feels rather one-dimensional, basic. But there’s no disputing its awful power. Read full review
70
The Hollywood ReporterTodd McCarthyJan 26, 2015
Writer-director Robert Eggers' debut feature impresses on several fronts, notably in the performances, historical feel and visual precision, but the overall effect is relatively subdued and muted, probably too much so for mainstream scare fans. Read full review
67
Consequence of SoundSarah KurchakFeb 17, 2016
It falls short of an instant classic. It’s not a mind blowing achievement in horror. But The Witch is a solidly good film. Read full review
63
ReelViewsJames BerardinelliFeb 20, 2016
If all it took was verisimilitude and atmosphere to define a movie, The Witch would earn a near-perfect rating. Unfortunately, despite a creepily effective setting and authentic setup, the movie suffers as a result of a frustratingly uneven screenplay. Read full review
50
San Francisco ChronicleDavid LewisFeb 18, 2016
Its slow-boiling brew of dread turns out to be more tepid than terrifying. Read full review
40
New York Daily NewsEthan Sacks Feb 17, 2016
Early on, it seems that The Witch is tapping a higher metaphor for coming of age...or religious intolerance...or man's uneasy balance with nature...or something. It doesn't take long into the film's hour and a half running time, however, to break that spell. Read full review
40
Village VoiceAlan ScherstuhlFeb 17, 2016
The Witch purports, at times, to confront ignorance and hysteria, but in the end, for horror thrills, Eggers's film sides with the preachers and executioners. It literalizes the fevered terrors of our God-mad ancestors — and then brags that it's all steeped in research. Read full review
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