Up and Coming Weekly is a weekly publication in Fayetteville, NC and Fort Bragg, NC area offering local news, views, arts, entertainment and community event and business information.
Issue link: https://www.epageflip.net/i/653613
MARCH 16-22, 2016 UCW 23 WWW.UPANDCOMINGWEEKLY.COM The Witch (92 minutes) dares to ask the eternal question, "Wouldst thou live deliciously?" I would say yes even if I didn't know what that meant, especially if I were an unmarried woman living in Puritan New England. I mean, look at the alternatives. Not living deliciously? Letting men tell me what to do? As a Puritan I would have made a wonderful witch. I am not on board with the whole attacking children thing, but all the other parts seem very empowering. Writer/Director Robert Eggers' debut feature strikes an appropriate tone from the opening act, featuring Puritans banished from their set tlement for "prideful conceit" to the final sequence, which serves as a metaphor for what some conservative politicians probably think liberal unmarried women do on the weekend. The family at the center of the story includes William (Ralph Ineson), Katherine (Kate Dickie), eldest daughter Thomasin (Anya Taylor-Joy), Caleb (Harvey Scrimshaw), Samuel the baby, twins Mercy and Jonas (Ellie Granger and Lucas Dawson) and Black Phillip. Black Phillip is this awesome goat with horns that the twins talk to. I love Black Phillip and I find him delightful. The family finds a nice clearing about a day's travel from the settlement. There is an abundance of prayerful rejoicing and ecstatic worship until reality sets in. Reality, of course, being the knowledge that in the absence of mass communication and combustion vehicles, that wacky Puritan family won't be able to dial 9-1-1 in the event of crop failure, goat attack or random witchery. Thomasin is obviously meant to be the hero of the story, since the family spends an awful lot of time making her feel terrible. It isn't always easy to interpret the historically accurate dialogue, but she is definitely the family outcast. Naturally, she gets tired of all the hostility and threatens to kill and eat her sister Mercy, as any reasonable person facing crop failure on an isolated Puritan farm might. In Thomasin's defense, she has clearly not accepted certain truths about her life as a woman in 17th century New England. The menfolk leave on a secret hunting trip after yet another family discussion about Thomasin's general inadequacy. They try to kill a rabbit that simply reeks of evil and demonic intent (most rabbits do), but fail. Increasingly desperate, the family turns on each other. Overall, the best characters were the twins. When the world is falling down round them, they still have the time, creativity and energy to fake witch-induced seizures, even knowing that their game of The Devil Made Me Do It! is probably going to get someone burned at the stake. Also, it was a nice change to see a straightforward take on a witchcraft movie, one that relies on historical accuracy, thoughtful dialogue and high quality cinematography. In a genre that too often relies on bad CGI and startling people rather than genuinely evoking fear, this film is an early 2016 standout. Now playing at Patriot 14 + IMA X. Wouldst Thou Live Deliciously The Witch (Rated R) by HEATHER GRIFFITHS HEATHER GRIFFITHS, Contributing Writer. COMMENTS? Editor@ upandcomingweekly.com. 910.484.6200. A P R I L 2 4 , 2 0 1 6 T H E F A Y E T T E V I L L E D U C K D E R B Y 3 P M A T F E S T I V A L P A R K F A Y E T T E V I L L E D U C K D E R B Y . C O M Adopt a Duck for a Chance to Win a 2016 Coleman Camper and other great prizes!