• A debut brimming with self-assurance and specificity
  • The specificity is two-fold– the detail in the production design (Eggers background) and the vernacular. The corn stalks are real. The dialect is clearly authentic- the “thee’s” and “thou’s”. You can almost smell and taste the film – it’s curated—it is as studied as a method actor not breaking character but in the form of an entire film.
You can almost smell and taste the film – it’s curated
  • Ominous vocalizing in the score- like the opening of Kubrick’s 2001.
  • Powerful (and horrifying) imagery in the witch montage with the hand on the child, blade on the child
  • The themes are large— cursed or damned, rotten apples and pride and small lies (sins) turning into bigger lists
  • Like Ari Aster’s Hereditary from 2018 and all of the best horror films of all-time (not quite putting this in that class) it absolutely works as a drama without the scares. This is a family drama and the characters are harsh—the family unraveling– ripping each other apart.
  • These characters are devout—they never blink or nod to us the viewer or the world outside of the film. Constant praying from all of them.

These characters are devout—they never blink or nod to us the viewer or the world outside of the film. Constant praying from all of them.
  • Honestly I wish Eggers would spend more time basking in the details of the set design
Honestly I wish Eggers would spend more time basking in the details of the set design
  • A New England folk story
  • Really good review from the WSJ- Joe Morgenstern “This phenomenal debut feature by Robert Eggers has a singular style and tone, and its horror flows from the deepest wellsprings of human nature.”
  • Recommend/Highly Recommend border- right on the fringe of the top 10 of 2015 and I’ve appreciated it more every time I’ve seen it

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