Set in 1838, the film revolves around a young woman who has been haunted by a mysterious demon as he would make his presence known after meeting her husband who traveled from Wisborg, Germany to the Carpathian Mountains over a real estate deal. It is a film that does follow many of the schematics told in previous adaptations of the story that is based on Bram Stoker’s novel about a vampire yet Robert Eggers creates a story that is more about a young woman’s trauma and the anguish she deals with about herself and her own sexual repression that she is dealing with in a society that doesn’t allow women to be more expressive. Even as they must deal with something darker that is lurking and threatening the happiness that they have gained through marriage or even family. Eggers’ screenplay is straightforward in its narrative though it opens with a young Ellen Hutter (Lily-Rose Depp) being hypnotized by a mysterious figure as it would be a nightmare that she would deal with for much of her life as she had just gotten married to the real estate agent Thomas Hutter (Nicholas Hoult).
Sent by his boss in Herr Knock (Simon McBurney) to the Carpathian Mountains, Thomas travels while Ellen stays with Thomas’ friend Friedrich Harding (Aaron Taylor-Johnson) and his wife Anna (Emma Corrin). Thomas would travel further despite warnings from Romani people and locals living near Transylvania to not enter the castle that is inhabited by the mysterious Count Orlok (Bill Skarsgard) as he is a figure that is monstrous with a face that that is odd. His intention in buying a house in Wisborg is to wreak havoc and bring a plague until he sees a picture of Ellen where he hopes to seduce her and have her become his companion. Even as he would eventually meet Ellen upon his own arrival where he makes her an offer to spare those she cares about as well as the town if she gives herself to him. Her mysterious behavior would get the attention of Dr. Wilhem Sievers (Ralph Ineson) who at first thinks Ellen is going through some form of hysteria where he later turns to his mentor in the eccentric occult expert in Professor Albin Eberhart Von Franz (Willem Dafoe) who knows what is happening to Ellen.
Eggers’ direction is stylish in not just paying tribute to the previous adaptations but also in maintaining a tone that is unsettling as well as intense in its physicality. Shot on location in the Czech Republic with interiors shot at the Barrandov Studios in Prague and a few exteriors of the Corvin Castle in Romania. Eggers creates a film that plays into a period before the emergence of the industrial age as people still believed in myths and superstitions though the idea of a plague has been long in the past. Eggers’ usage of wide and medium shots does not just capture the scope of the environment that the characters encounter but also the atmosphere of a room in a castle or at a house where Eggers adds a lot of personality to these environments. Eggers’ direction also emphasizes on close-ups as it plays into Ellen’s own spasms and seizures that she would endure including the film’s opening scene where she prays for the horror to end.
Eggers’ direction also plays into the severity of Count Orlok’s cruelty as the scene where Thomas explores the castle and finds his coffin as it is among the scariest scenes in the film. There are also some surreal moments that are nightmarish as it relates to Ellen’s own behavior where there is a lot of physicality involved as it is a key element in the film’s second act. Upon Thomas’ return in the film’s third act, there is this sense of dread that looms with the sight of rats roaming around the town bringing on this plague. The violence becomes more severe with characters going mad, yet it is Ellen who becomes sane as she realizes what she must do with Professor Von Franz who also understands what must be done. It has Ellen taking control of what must be done to Count Orlok as well as unleashing a side of herself that she has been repressing. Overall, Eggers crafts a gripping yet evocative film about a woman being haunted by a mysterious vampire.
Cinematographer Jarin Blaschke does brilliant work with the film’s cinematography with its stylish usage of blue and low-key lights for some of the nighttime exterior scenes along with a grey-like look for some of the daytime exteriors and the usage of fire as available light as it is a highlight of the film. Editor Louise Ford does excellent work with the editing in using rhythmic and jump-cuts to play into the suspense as well as know when to allow shots to linger for an amount of time to build up the suspense. Production designer Craig Lathrop, along with set decorator Beatrice Brentnerova plus senior art director Robert Cowper and supervising art director Paul Ghirardani, does amazing work with the look of the interiors of Count Orlok’s castle as well as the homes of the Hardings and the small apartment that Professor Von Franz lives in. Costume designer Linda Muir does fantastic work with the costumes in the design of the suits that the men wear from the refined look of Friedrich to the ragged look of Professor Von Franz while the dresses that the women wear are also stylish to the period as it would express the personalities of both Ellen and Anna Harding.
Makeup designer Traci Loader, along with special effects makeup supervisor Sacha Carter and prosthetics makeup effects designer David White, does tremendous work with the makeup with the special effects makeup work being a major highlight in the look of Count Orlok. Special effects supervisors Pavel Sagner and Jiri Vater, along with visual effects supervisor Angela Barson, do terrific work with the visual effects with the usage of practical effects for some of the scenes involving Orlok as well as a scene that is a homage to the 1922 film by Murnau when Orlok uses his shadow to wreak havoc on Wisborg. Sound designer Damian Volpe does superb work with sound in creating an atmosphere into the locations with the usage of natural sound and textures to help build up the sense of horror and suspense. The film’s music by Robin Carolan is incredible for its bombastic orchestral score that is filled with soaring themes in its usage of strings and percussions along with some offbeat folk-based instruments to add to the sense of folklore. Even with pieces that play into the atmosphere of a scene as well as help build up suspense and terror as it is a major highlight of the film.
The casting by Kharmel Cochrane is marvelous as it feature some notable small roles from Adele Hesova and Milena Konstantinova as the Hardings’ daughters with Ella Bernstein and Meredith Diggs providing the voices for the girls, Claudiu Trandafir as the innkeeper who lives near Transylvania, Karel Dobry as a ship captain, Liana Navrot as an Orthodox nun, Mihai Verbintschi as an Orthodox priest, and Stacy Thunes as a head nurse who helps run the hospital with Dr. Sievers. Simon McBurney is superb as Herr Knock as an estate firm broker boss who sends Thomas to Transylvania as well as being a disciple of Count Orlok where he has this crazed energy as this unhinged man that is willing to do anything for his master. Ralph Ineson is fantastic as Dr. Wilhelm Sievers as a doctor who is asked to treat Ellen where he is baffled by what is happening to her while also dealing with a plague where he realizes this is beyond his own expertise.
Emma Corrin is excellent as Anna Harding as Friedrich’s pregnant wife who expresses concern for Ellen’s illness while also sympathetic towards her where she does what she can to be her friend. Aaron Taylor-Johnson is brilliant as Friedrich Harding as a rich friend of Thomas who invites Ellen to stay at his home where he is baffled by what is happening to Ellen as he later becomes frustrated with Professor Von Franz’s theories and methods. Willem Dafoe is incredible as Professor Albin Eberhart Von Franz as an occult expert who is Dr. Sievers’ mentor as he makes a discovery of what is happening to Ellen with theories about the plague where Dafoe has this air of eccentricity to his performance but also a man who has a better understanding of evil. Nicholas Hoult is remarkable as Ellen’s husband Thomas Hutter as a real estate agent who is sent by Herr Knock to Transylvania where he deals with his encounter with Count Orlok as well as the things he had seen where he is desperate to save Ellen and be there for her.
Bill Skarsgard is great as Count Orlok as this monstrous vampire who has a large figure and a mustache as he is this eerie creature that wants to wreak havoc on Wisborg as well as have Ellen as his companion where Skarsgard uses a low register in his voice and a physicality to play into the terror that he brings as it is a career-defining performance for Skarsgard. Finally, there’s Lily-Rose Depp in a phenomenal break-out performance as Ellen Hutter as this young woman haunted by her own encounter with a demon as she copes with Thomas being away as well as some unexpected behaviors to emerge. Depp brings a physicality and anguish to her performance that is scary in the way she gets possessed as well as scenes where she is aware of what Ellen must do to stop Count Orlok as it is a true revelatory performance from Depp.
Nosferatu is a tremendous film by Robert Eggers that features great leading performances from Bill Skarsgard and Lily-Rose Depp. Along with its supporting cast, ravishing visuals, study of fear and repression, and an intense music score. It is a horror film that doesn’t just pay tribute to its past adaptations but also find new ways to tell an old story and maintain its fear. Even as it explores the horrors of within with its emphasis on what women deal with in those times and how they had to confront that horror. In the end, Nosferatu is an outstanding film by Robert Eggers.
Related: Nosferatu (1922 film) - Nosferatu, the Vampyre - Bram Stoker's Dracula - (The Auteurs #75: Robert Eggers)
Robert Eggers Films: The VVitch - The Lighthouse (2019 film) - The Northman
© thevoid99 2025
The film is the story of a young prince who witnesses the murder of his father by his uncle forcing the young prince to flee as he later grows into a man seeking revenge as he is aided by a slave in reclaiming his throne. It is a film with a simple premise where it isn’t just about revenge but also a boy becoming a man and trying to find himself and the fate of his quest. The film’s screenplay by Robert Eggers and Sjon is largely straightforward in its narrative yet it is more about the journey that its protagonist Amleth (Alexander Skarsgard) takes from the time he witnesses his father in King Aurvandill (Ethan Hawke) be murdered by his uncle Fjornir (Claes Bang) when Amleth was a child (Oscar Novak) as its first act is about Amleth making an oath to get revenge on his uncle and save his mother in Queen Gudrun (Nicole Kidman) from his clutches. The first act also shows him becoming a Viking where he helps attack villages and such until an encounter with a Seeress (Bjork) who tells him that Fjornir has been exiled from Norway and is in Iceland with his mother, his eldest son Thorir (Gustav Lindh), and their youngest in Gunnar (Elliott Rose).
The second act revolves Amleth going to Iceland by posing as a slave where he meets another slave in Olga (Anya Taylor-Joy) who claims to be a sorceress as she would help Amleth in seeking revenge. Yet, things become complicated as Amleth learns about Gunnar and the new world that Fjornir and Gudrun live in as they kept a low profile while Amleth also learns that his father’s jester Heimir (Willem Dafoe) had also been killed by Fjornir where Amleth meets the He-Witch (Ingvar Eggert Sigurosson) who serves a medium for Heimir for Amleth. Amleth doesn’t reveal himself directly to his mother as he and Olga continue to work in secrecy as they would fall in love but things do get more troubling following some revelations leading into its third act. Notably as it does play into Amleth’s own devotion to his father and his father’s devotion to the spiritual world and nature itself.
Eggers’ direction definitely has elements of style but also this element of physicality into the world that these characters live in as it is intense and at times, unforgiving. Shot on various locations in parts of Great Britain as well as Ireland and Iceland, Eggers maintains this sense of physicality in these locations with the first twenty minutes set in this cold mountain forest where there are these gorgeous imagery with the daytime exteriors and interiors having this sense of the cold and the scenes at night were it is all about natural lighting that include this spiritual ceremony hosted by Heimir for the young Amleth and King Aurvandill. The usage of close-ups and medium shot in that ceremony also include these surrealistic images that play into this connection with the spiritual world as they would occur often in the film including a shot of a young Amleth on a horse running towards the light that is Valhalla.
Eggers also uses a lot of wide shots to get a scope of these locations but also these surroundings the characters are in as it also play into a moment in time that is brutal but also entrancing. Notably in shots where Eggers uses the wide shots in using these dolly-tracking shots to showcase the places that Amleth is in whether it is the palace building he’s in as a child or the place to retrieve a sword that he needs for his quest. The usage of the dolly-tracking shots would also play into the suspense including scenes late in the second act where Fjornir deals with these mysterious attacks where Eggers also maintains this air of brutality in the violence as it would intensify in the third act. Notably the climatic showdown between Amleth and Fjornir as it is told in a stylized manner that owes more to the prophecy that Amleth had to follow yet there are these surrealistic elements that bring a lot of power to this climax. Overall, Eggers crafts a mesmerizing yet unsettling film about a young Viking prince going on a quest for vengeance against his uncle.
Cinematographer Jarin Blaschke does amazing work with the film’s cinematography with its stylish usage of filters for a few surrealistic shots while much of it is natural in some of the interiors with its usage of fire as light as well as its emphasis on available light for some of the exterior scenes. Editor Louise Ford does excellent work with the editing as its emphasis on having shots play out while also emphasizing on jump-cuts and rhythmic cuts to help play into the suspense and action. Production designer Craig Lathrop, with set decorators Pancho Chamorro and Niamh Coulter plus art directors Robert Cowper and Paul Ghirardini, does incredible work with the film’s art direction in the design of the village and castle that the young Amleth lived in to the fortress that he would attack as a Viking and the home that Fjornir would live in with Gudrun. Costume designer Linda Muir does fantastic work with the costumes from the design of some of the gowns that Gudrun wear as well as the armor that Fjornir and King Aurvandill wore as well as some of the wool clothes the other characters wore.
Hair/makeup designer Maralyn Sherman, with special effects makeup designer David White, does brilliant work with the look of a few characters with the Seeress being a major example as well as the look of a few spiritual figures that Amleth meets. Special effects supervisor Sam Conway, along with visual effects supervisors Angela Barson, Colin McCusker, and David Scott, does terrific work with some of the visual effects that include some of the film’s surrealistic imagery as well as some of the animals the characters encounter. Sound editors James Harrison and Steve Little, along with sound designers Jimmy Boyle and David Volpe, do phenomenal work with the sound as it help play into the atmosphere of the locations as well as the usage of layered dialogue for some of the surrealistic moments as it is a highlight of the film. The film’s music by Robin Carolan and Sebastian Gainsborough is remarkable as it is a highlight of the film with its usage of percussions, discordant strings, and other sounds to help create an unsettling tone for the film.
The casting by Kharmel Cochrane is marvelous as it feature some notable small roles and appearances from Ralph Ineson as a ship captain Amleth and Olga meet late in the film, Magne Osnes as a berserker priest who had become a father figure for Amleth, Kate Dickie as a senior slave who sort of runs Fjornir’s farm, Olwen Fouere as Fjornir’s priestess, Hafpor Julius Bjornsson as a rival tribe champion that Amleth fights during a game of knattleikr, Eldar Skar and Phill Martin as a couple of Fjornir’s housecarls with the former who lost his nose from a fight with the young Amleth, and Ingvar Eggert Sigurosson as the He-Witch as a spiritual figure who would serve as a medium for Heimir. Oscar Novak and Elliott Rose are terrific in their respective roles as the young Amleth and his eventual half-brother Gunnar as two young boys who both adore their fathers with the former feeling the need to get revenge while the other is struggling to prove to himself as a prince. Gustav Lindh is superb as Fjornir’s eldest son Thorir the Proud as a prince who is eager to rule over the slaves as he takes a disliking towards Amleth unaware of his true identity.
Bjork is fantastic in her brief role as a Seeress as this mysterious spiritual figure who would guide and remind Amleth of his quest for revenge while Willem Dafoe’s brief role as King Aurvandill’s jester Heimir is excellent for its sense of energy and intrigue as someone who doesn’t just favor the spiritual world but also the physical world. Ethan Hawke is brilliant as King Aurvandill as a man of simple ideas as he has a close bond with his son while he is also a man who loves nature and the spiritual world. Nicole Kidman is amazing as Queen Gudrun as a woman who is Amleth’s mother but is unaware of his identity believing he had died where she is devoted to her son and stepson/nephew as she also brings a lot of ambiguity to her role. Claes Bang is incredible as Fjornir as King Aurvandill’s brother who would take the throne feeling that his brother is too much of a savage as he is also someone that wants to make his own mark following his own exile.
Anya Taylor-Joy is sensational as Olga as a slave who claims to be a sorceress as she befriends and later falls for Amleth where she doesn’t just help him in getting his revenge but is also someone who also has a connection with nature and the spiritual world in the hope that a better future would come. Finally, there’s Alexander Skarsgard in a phenomenal performance as Amleth as a young prince who goes on a quest for vengeance to avenge his father and save his mother where he deals with the complexities of his mission and the added stakes as it relates to his family as well as his uncle where Skarsgard brings in a lot of restraint but also an intensity into his performance where it is a major breakout performance for him.
The Northman is a tremendous film from Robert Eggers that features great performances from Alexander Skarsgard and Anya Taylor-Joy. Along with its ensemble cast, gorgeous yet grimy visuals, intense music score, eerie sound design, its study of revenge and fate, and its idea of myth and spirituality. It is a film that doesn’t play by the rules when it comes to revenge films while it is also a study of a man trying to do what is right while facing obstacles that would push him further into his quest. In the end, The Northman is a spectacular film from Robert Eggers.
Robert Eggers Films: The VVitch - The Lighthouse (2019 film) - Nosferatu (2024 film) - (The Auteurs #75: Robert Eggers)
© thevoid99 2022
Directed by Robert Eggers and written by Robert and Max Eggers, The Lighthouse is the story of two lighthouse keepers who tend to a lighthouse in the late 19th Century as their life of solitude becomes troubled as they endure their own demons. The film is a psychological horror film that explore the world that two men live in as they deal with their own issues as well as their state of mind as they start to unravel. Starring Willem Dafoe and Robert Pattinson. The Lighthouse is an intoxicating yet haunting film from Robert Eggers.
Set on an isolated island in the U.S. in the late 19th Century, the film is about two men running a lighthouse as they live and work in a solitude environment that eventually gets to them as their four-week tenure is extended further by a storm and other disturbing events. It’s a film that doesn’t have much plot as it play into two men working at a lighthouse as they deal with the job at hand amidst horrendous weather conditions and other strange things. The film’s screenplay by Robert and Max Eggers opens with the arrival of Ephraim Winslow (Robert Pattinson) and his supervisor in Thomas Wake (Willem Dafoe) as the latter had ran the lighthouse before as Winslow learns that Wake’s previous assistant had gone mad. Winslow accepts the job for pay as he learns to deal with Wake yet he would start to see strange things including a mermaid (Valeriia Karaman) while he also witnesses Wake behaving strangely as well. The tension between Winslow and Wake would come ahead yet would either be soothed or intensified through alcohol.
Robert Eggers’ direction definitely recall films of the past in not just its visuals and its usage of the 1:19:1 aspect ratio that is more akin to the cinematic style of 1920s/1930s cinema. Shot on location in Nova Scotia, Eggers does use some wide shots to get a scope of the locations as well as the sea to play into its air of isolation yet much of the direction is emphasized on close-ups and medium shots with some intricate camera movements throughout the film. Eggers’ usage of the close-ups doesn’t just play into some of the emotional moments of the film but also in some of the dramatic tension and suspense as it relates to the moments in and out of the lighthouse as well as what Winslow sees on the island. There are also these offbeat moments in the film as it relates to Winslow’s encounter with a seagull as Wake states that killing one would bring a curse to the island.
While there are moments of the film that do slow things down as it involve scenes of no dialogue, it does play into not just some of the tension that occur but also into the surreal moments of the film. Notably in what Winslow sees in the film as there are also these intimate yet lively moments of Winslow and Wake as they get drunk and sing sea chanteys while going into conversation about themselves and such. Even as it goes into the third act as Winslow copes with what he’s encountered as well as it play into what he is seeing is real or maybe in his head. Even as Wake becomes more upset over what Winslow had brought to the island as Eggers’ direction does intensify while he creates these gorgeous compositions that add a lot of intrigue into what Wake does at the top of the lighthouse which he always closes. Eggers’ visuals would showcase some of the mystery of that lighthouse as along with the island are characters of the film as it would play into everything Winslow and Wake have been fascinated by. Overall, Eggers crafts a terrifying yet rapturous film about two men working and living in a lighthouse on an isolated island.
Cinematographer Jarin Blaschke does incredible work with the film’s black-and-white photography with its usage of lighting for some interior scenes at night along with the way the rocks and muddy roads look as it is a highlight of the film. Editor Louise Ford does excellent work with the editing as its usage of rhythmic cuts help play into the drama and suspense along with the few bits of humor as a lot of it is straightforward. Production designer Craig Lathrop, with set decorator Ian Greig and art director Matt Likely, does brilliant work with the look of the lighthouse and the houses around the lighthouse as well as the interiors in how small their bedroom is and how shambolic the home looks from inside. Costume designer Linda Muir does fantastic work with the costumes as it is largely low-key into the uniforms that the men wear as well as the shambolic look it would have.
Special makeup effects artists Shane Shisheboran and Vague Vartanian do terrific work with the look of the mermaid as well as a few things that Winslow would see. Visual effects supervisors Eran Dinur, Luc Julien, Marc Massicotte, Eric Pascarelli, Vico Sharabani, and Asaf Yeger do superb work with the visual effects as it relates to some of the film’s surreal moments as well as some minimal work in the look of the seagulls flying above. Sound designers Mariusz Glabinski and Damian Volpe is amazing for the way a foghorn would sound from afar as well as the sounds of the seagulls and the sea as it helps bring in this tense and eerie atmosphere of the film. The film’s music by Mark Korven is phenomenal for its ominous and chilling score that is filled with heavy bass in the strings and in some of the instrumentation as it helps with the atmospheric tone of the film while its soundtrack feature traditional sea chanteys.
The casting by Kharmel Cochrane is wonderful as it feature a few actors who make appearances from afar with Valeriia Karaman as the mermaid. The performances of Willem Dafoe and Robert Pattinson in their respective roles as Thomas Wake and Ephraim Winslow are sensational in displaying the manic energy and paranoia they both endure with Dafoe being more of an authority figure who farts a lot and tells a lot of stories while Pattinson is the one doing more of the physical duties who becomes frustrated on many levels including sexually as he would masturbate to a mermaid figurine. Dafoe and Pattinson have great rapport with one another as they deal with their own differences in age and work methods as well as be two men trapped in this island and tending to a lighthouse with mysterious things surrounding it and from within.
The Lighthouse is a spectacular film from Robert Eggers that features two great leading performances from Willem Dafoe and Robert Pattinson. Along with its gorgeous black-and-white visuals, evocative music score, eerie sound design, and its chilling premise. It’s a film that explore the idea of two men in an island running a lighthouse as they deal with bad weather, personalities, and all sorts of shit as they also encounter things that are hard to describe. In the end, The Lighthouse is a phenomenal film from Robert Eggers.
Robert Eggers Films: The VVitch - The Northman - Nosferatu (2024 film) - (The Auteurs #75: Robert Eggers)
© thevoid99 2019
Written and directed by Robert Eggers, The VVitch (A New-England Folktale) is the story of a family whose newborn son has suddenly disappeared as they deal with their surroundings as well as each other. The film is set during the early 17th Century in Colonial America where a family deal with their own fears in the middle of the woods. Starring Anya Taylor-Joy, Ralph Ineson, Harvey Scrimshaw, Ellie Grainger, Lucas Dawson, and Kate Dickie. The VVitch is an evocative yet eerie film from Robert Eggers.
Set in the 17th Century in New England, the film follows a Puritan family, who had been banished from a plantation over disagreements about faith, who move into a remote land near the woods where a series of strange events happen following the disappearance of the family’s newborn son. It’s a film that play into a family that is devoted to their faith and trying to create a farm in the land they live in as things begin to unravel by these mysterious events. Robert Eggers’ screenplay doesn’t just follow the life of this family but also the slow unraveling where they would accuse of each other of supposed witchcraft with the young woman Thomasin (Anya Taylor-Joy) being the major suspect despite the fact that her father William (Ralph Ineson) and younger brother Caleb (Harvey Scrimshaw) believe she isn’t a witch. Even though Thomasin was with the baby Samuel (Axtun Henry Dub and Athan Conrad Dube) the moment he disappeared.
She still gets blamed for what happened from her mother Katherine (Kate Dickie) while she becomes more uneasy when her twin siblings Mercy and Jonas (Ellie Grainger and Lucas Dawson, respectively) singing songs about a mysterious being called Black Phillip. During the course of the story, stranger things intensify as does the tension between the family members with Thomasin being the suspect as she had teased Mercy earlier claiming she’s a witch which wasn’t true. These incidents would force William to do something as Thomasin would see that something is off as she notices Mercy and Jonah acting suspiciously around this black goat.
Eggers’ direction is very entrancing for the way it creates a film that is about atmosphere and location. Shot on location in Kiosk, Ontario in Canada, the film maintains this look that is very grey and dreary with one shot of blue sky is only seen in the film. While Eggers would use some wide shots to get a scope of the locations and creating some unique compositions of the actors in their surroundings including scenes at the wood. Much of Eggers’ direction has him using some close-ups and medium shots as it play into the tension within the family as well as the suspense and drama that would loom throughout. Notably during the film’s second act where Thomasin and Caleb go into the woods where the latter makes a very eerie discovery that would impact everything.
There aren’t any big moments of violence but there is still an intensity that is fierce in the drama as it relates to the family being at odds with one another. Especially as it relates to witchcraft and Thomasin being the major suspect where it is also clear she is becoming a woman and there were plans of sending her away to help another family. This revelation only increases the tension between Thomasin and her mother where things eventually unravel prompting Thomasin to wonder if there is some evil spirit lurking around in the woods. Overall, Eggers creates a rapturous yet unsettling film about a family dealing with evil spirits lurking in the woods.
Cinematographer Jarin Blaschke does brilliant work with the film’s cinematography with its emphasis on natural lighting as many of the nighttime interiors were shot with lit candles as well as other elements to create something atmospheric and eerie. Editor Louise Ford does excellent work with the editing as it does have bits of style in its approach to rhythmic cuts to play into the suspense and drama. Production designer Craig Lathrop, with set decorator Mary Kirkland plus art directors Derek Connell and Andrea Kristof, does fantastic work with the look of the farm and the interior of the home that the family live in as well as the design of a mysterious home in the woods.
Costume designer Linda Muir does amazing work with the costumes as it play into the period of the times with its bonnets for the women and some of the clothes that the men wore in those times. Visual effects supervisor Geoff D.E. Scott does nice work with some of the film’s minimal visual effects as it is mainly bits of set dressing as well as a scene during the film’s third act. Sound designer Adam Stein and sound editor Mark Gingras do superb work with the film’s sound in creating that eerie atmosphere for some of the scenes in the woods that would play into the horror as it’s one of the film’s highlights. The film’s music by Mark Korven is incredible for its disconcerting and gripping music score with its usage of orchestral strings, choir arrangements, and other instruments that help play into the suspense and drama.
The casting by John Buchan, Kharmel Cochrane, and Jason Knight is wonderful as it feature some notable small roles from Sarah Stephens as a mysterious young woman in the woods, Bathsheba Garnett as a mysterious old woman in the woods, Axtun Henry Dube and Athan Conrad Dube as the baby Samuel, and Julian Richings as the plantation governor who would cast William and the family out of the plantation over an argument he has with William. Ellie Grainger and Lucas Dawson are fantastic in their respective roles as the twin siblings Mercy and Jonas as two young kids who have been singing weird songs and spend time with a black mountain goat that has made Thomasin very uneasy. Harvey Scrimshaw is excellent as Caleb as a young boy who knows something is going on in the woods as he tries to find out while knowing that it’s probably the cause of all of the tension within the family.
Kate Dickie is brilliant as Katherine as the mother of the children who seems to have a dislike towards her own daughter as she becomes stricken with grief as it’s an intense and chilling performance from Dickie. Ralph Ineson is amazing as William as family patriarch who put his family into an uncertain situation as he tries to maintain his sense of faith while wondering if he had made the right decision. Finally, there’s Anya Taylor-Joy in a phenomenal performance as Thomasin as a young woman who is dealing with not just losing her baby brother but also the chaos that would emerge as it’s a very intense and eerie performance of a young woman finding herself becoming a suspect for all of the bad things that is happening as she struggles with everything happening around her.
The VVitch is a tremendous film from Robert Eggers. Featuring a great cast, a riveting story, gorgeous visuals, eerie sound design, and an unsettling score. The film is definitely a horror film that doesn’t play by the rules while showcasing what happens when the ideas of faith and family is being tested by something unknown and possibly evil. In the end, The VVitch is a spectacular film from Robert Eggers.
Robert Eggers Films: The Lighthouse - The Northman - Nosferatu (2024 film) - (The Auteurs #75: Robert Eggers)
© thevoid99 2017
