Director Robert Eggers’ debut Film, the 2015 The Witch, is a chilling, slightly disturbing, but – somehow – beautiful work rife with atmosphere, darkness, and even an eerie sense of mystery. However, what it is not – in my opinion – is a horror movie, contrary to its marketing campaign that makes you believe such. The film, filled to the brim with creepy scenes, stunningly dark cinematography, and a soundtrack eerie enough to make the hairs on the back of your neck stand up, is nonetheless not particularly scary – creepy and incredibly unsettling, at times, but nothing that will keep you up at night. As a matter of fact, some of the scenes in the film actually came across as comical, in their outrageousness, rather than horrific.

Maybe this was just my experience, and perhaps others were horrified after viewing it. Or maybe it was my fault for basing my expectations of the film off of the marketing materials instead of simply going in blind. Whatever the case, I ended up feeling incredibly disappointed in the film after viewing it, because – whether it was right to or not – I was expecting a true horror movie that would scare the socks off of me and keep me up at night, and I didn’t get that at all. However, what I did get, regardless, was a very well-acted, beautifully shot, very darkly ambient and creepy look at the life of a 17^th century Puritan family when – after being banished to the nearby woods – everything begins falling apart. That, in and of itself, makes it a good film – regardless of whether or not it reached its full potential by failing to embrace horror – and one that is certainly worth seeing, if you’d like a more atmospheric, period-drama.

The plot centers on a devout Puritan family who, after being banished from their plantation community, relocate to a piece of land surrounded by a large forest. Upon their arrival, various unexplainable tragedies begin befalling the family, leading the deeply religious group to begin suspecting witchcraft – and the ominous woods around their home – as the primary force working to tear their family apart.

While this story is, truly, quite simple, it works for what the film is best trying to achieve; in a film focused on building a dark atmosphere and tension, such as this, a simple setup – such as the family moving, experiencing horrors, and then being warped mentally and emotionally – is incredibly effective and serves this well. With the focus being entirely on the family members and their new life, with no emphasis on extraneous subplots or characters, the film is able to cut right to the heart of its desired subject and pour numerous disturbing occurrences and tragedies on top of the family one after the other, with a sprinkling of observing their reactions to said events in between each one. Such an order (of an event, the family’s reaction, another event, another reaction, etc.), with the events and the member’s reactions gradually increasing in severity as the movie progresses, truly works to create a tension; the audience is truly intrigued and absolutely wishes to see what will happen next to the family, and how much more they can take mentally before breaking. All of this seems like it it’s the perfect recipe for a gripping, masterful film, let alone a horror movie.

But the ending ingredient to this recipe ruins nearly the entire mixture, destroying the tension and leaving the audience with no solid payoff to their hours’ worth of waiting for a resolution to increasingly drastic acts. The ending to the film is so ridiculous and, in its outrageousness, so unsatisfying that it makes all of the tension feel as if it was felt for nothing – that, in wanting to know the mystery driving the events, the audience’s time was wasted. In essence, the sheer absurdity of the film’s resolution and answer to/revelation of the answer behind the plot’s big mystery nearly ruins the film. While the idea behind the mystery may not be terrible, and its execution not the worst – although it certainly is not the most satisfying, especially in comparison to another, more obvious ending that seemed the most fulfilling – the very conclusion to the film, the last 5 minutes or so after the plot is wrapped up, seems completely unnecessary, strange, and too ridiculous to be a serious or fitting ending. Thus, I would say that, overall, the plot was average in quality – it was simply, but worked very effectively, until the ending knocked it down a few pegs from “good.”

Despite this, the acting – both throughout the film and even during this ending – was incredibly well done and consistent. In my opinion, Anya Taylor-Joy, the actress portraying eldest daughter Thomasin (who is essentially the main character of the film), deserves immense praise for her performance. Her performance of an obedient Puritan girl struggling as she comes-of-age in such a strict family, dealing with the judgements and reactions of her family as the plot’s events occur around her is simply incredible (especially considering this is basically her first major film acting role). She portrays a multifaceted character that exhibits toughness within her innocence, a certain amount of questioning and resentfulness within her naivete.

The other actors were also quite good, playing their parts with an incredibly dedication and conviction. Ralph Ineson, an actor best known for appearances in Game of Thrones and Harry Potter, is great as the family’s father, a strict but gentle Puritan man devoted to God and providing for his family, but ultimately decimated as his own sins and hypocrisies are exposed within his air of righteousness. The matriarch of the group, Katie Dickie’s Katherine, is simply fantastic as a rigid but ultimately caring Puritan mother that morphs into an entirely different character as her immense faith begins to shatter and fade away throughout the film. Harvey Scrimshaw, a young actor without much information available on himself, is also noteworthy as Caleb, the eldest son in the family. As a young boy beginning to struggle with both his faith and the restraints the Puritan lifestyle places on himself as he comes of age and begins to mature, Scrimshaw nails the part, showing the internal conflict and frustration raging within the boy – in addition to his pure-hearted desire to follow faith and the lifestyle – with particular depth. Lastly, actors Ellie Grainger and Lucas Dawson, playing fraternal twins Mercy and Jonas, respectively, do a great job portraying young characters that ultimately ignore the duties placed on them, acting as most normal children do; having not yet been completely conditioned into the lifestyle and beliefs of their family, they taunt, sing, cheer, and dance around the screen in a manner similar to any other child that can be seen on the playground today.

But bolstering the acting, in what I may or may not agree is the most effective part of the movie, is the haunting cinematography and soundtrack developed for the film. Filled to the brim with absolutely breathtaking shots of the cold, desolate woods surrounding the house, or close-up shots of the disturbing phenomena occurring throughout the film, the cinematography absolutely works to set the dark, foreboding, ominous tone of the film, filling it with a darkness that sends chills down the spine. Overall, the cinematography can be said to capture the desolation of the woods, the creepiness of the supposed supernatural, and the turbulent emotions of the family perfectly. The soundtrack only enhances this atmosphere, creating this eerie, dark ambiance that frightens and chills. From scenes with only solitary strings to tracks featuring layers upon layers of dissonant opera vocal lines, to even scenes with chanting that steadily increases in loudness, the soundtrack is nothing short of perfect for a dark film, let alone what could have been a horror movie. With the cinematography and soundtrack working in tandem, the atmosphere is nothing short of bone chilling, despite the film’s lack of true scariness.

And thus, that is a perfect description of a film for an audience recommendation. If you are looking for a stay-awake-at-night or sleep with the lights on horror movie that scares you to death, this is not the film for you. However, if you are looking for an unsettling, chilling film rife with atmosphere and beauty, then you will certainly enjoy this film.