In the 1630s, a Puritan family exiled from their New England plantation settles at the edge of a forest. Their crops fail, their infant vanishes and their eldest daughter Thomasin becomes the focus of their growing religious terror. Robert Eggers' debut is a horror film built from period documents. Its dread comes from the worldview of people who truly believed in the devil.
The Witch is a 2015 horror, drama and history film directed by Robert Eggers. This breakdown covers 5 techniques (2 narrative, 1 psychology, 1 sound and 1 cinematography), each with the scene where you can see it. If you like how it is made, Alien uses several of the same techniques.
Spending a long time on normal life, character and atmosphere before any real threat arrives. Dread builds bit by bit, so the climax feels inevitable and devastating when it comes.
How this film uses it
Eggers uses no jump scares at all. The horror seeps in through the grey skies, the failing crops and the goat's unblinking eye. In time, the supernatural feels like the only possible explanation for what the family is going through.
Where to see it
The long early scenes of the family at work in their fields. The forest is always there at the edge of the frame, and the dread arrives before anything happens.
Starting the film by showing or telling you how it ends, such as the main character's death or defeat. The rest of the story then explains how things got there.
How this film uses it
The film opens with the family's banishment from the plantation community as a done deal. They have already been cast out and have already chosen to live apart, and the forest is already waiting.
Where to see it
The banishment scene. The family's wagon moves toward the tree line as a congregation watches, and the ending is already set in motion.
Pairing the main character with a second character who mirrors them. The double shows what the hero wants, fears or secretly is.
How this film uses it
Thomasin and Black Phillip work as doubles. She is the innocent girl, and he is the dark other self that Puritan religion imagined inside women. Eventually, the film closes the distance between them.
Where to see it
Thomasin's final conversation with Black Phillip. She signs the book with the ease of someone who already sees herself in him.
Keeping a threat or character mostly out of view and suggesting it through sound, movement at the edge of the frame and other people's reactions. Your imagination makes it scarier than anything shown.
How this film uses it
Black Phillip mostly stays in the pen or at the edge of the frame, and the witch is only ever glimpsed. Eggers trusts the family's terror to scare you more than any visible monster.
Where to see it
The scenes of Black Phillip in the pen at night. His stillness and unblinking stare are more threatening than any movement.
Limiting the film to a tightly chosen set of colors, or giving each place or state its own set. The colors tell you about the world and its mood without dialogue.
How this film uses it
Jarin Blaschke shoots the film in grey-silver winter light that comes entirely from the overcast sky and candles. The colors make the Puritan worldview something you can see: a world where beauty is physically out of reach.
Where to see it
The exterior field scenes. The grey sky presses down on the family like a heavy religious ceiling.
Questions
The Witch: quick answers
What filmmaking techniques does The Witch use?
CineCode breaks down 5 techniques in The Witch (2015): Slow Burn Horror Pacing, Proleptic Opening, Psychological Doubling, Off-Screen Presence and Color Palette as Worldbuilding.
Who directed The Witch?
Robert Eggers directed The Witch, released in 2015. CineCode also covers The Lighthouse (2019), The Northman (2022), Nosferatu (2024).
What films are similar to The Witch?
Films that share techniques with The Witch include Alien (1979), Persona (1966), Midsommar (2019), Le Samourai (1967).
