The Witch

film by Eggers [2015]

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July 22, 2026

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The Witch is a 2015 film directed by Robert Eggers, marking his feature film debut. It received critical acclaim, winning the directing award at the Sundance Film Festival and two Film Independent Spirit awards.1

The film is set during the early modern period, a time in Europe and the Americas (15th to 18th centuries) characterized by widespread persecutions for alleged witchcraft. During this era, witchcraft was viewed not only as the malicious use of supernatural power but also as a form of Satanism involving the worship of the Devil. Historians estimate that around 100,000 people were prosecuted for witchcraft, with 40,000 to 60,000 executed, predominantly women. This period is often referred to as the "Great Witch Hunt" or the "Witch Craze".2

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Robert Eggers
The Witch and The Lighthouse
… (2015), Eggers wrote and directed The Witch (2015), his first full-length feature film. Starring Anya Taylor-Joy, alongside Ralph Ineson and Kate Dickie, The Witch follows a religious 17th-century New England family after the youngest member goes missing. Eggers researched puritanical belief systems, vocabulary and grammatical structures, and witch folklore off-and-on…
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… (2015), Eggers wrote and directed The Witch (2015), his first full-length feature film. Starring Anya Taylor-Joy, alongside Ralph Ineson and Kate Dickie, The Witch follows a religious 17th-century New England family after the youngest member goes missing. Eggers researched puritanical belief systems, vocabulary and grammatical structures, and witch folklore off-and-on…
Read More

Anya Taylor-Joy
First roles and The Witch
…she landed a part in The Witch, a supernatural horror film about a family tormented by black magic while living in the New England wilderness in the 1630s. The small-budget film performed well at festivals and was a critical success, with many reviewers noting Taylor-Joy’s strong performance as the eldest…
Read More
…she landed a part in The Witch, a supernatural horror film about a family tormented by black magic while living in the New England wilderness in the 1630s. The small-budget film performed well at festivals and was a critical success, with many reviewers noting Taylor-Joy’s strong performance as the eldest…
Read More