The Witch is a chilling 2015 horror film set in 1630s New England, where a strict Puritan family faces isolation, crop failure, and terrifying supernatural events that tear them apart. The story follows William, his wife Katherine, their children Thomasin, Caleb, twins Mercy and Jonas, and baby Samuel as paranoia and evil forces destroy their faith and lives.
It all starts when the family is banished from their plantation for William’s religious stubbornness. They build a new farm near dark woods, but bad luck hits fast. Baby Samuel vanishes while Thomasin watches him. That night, a grotesque old witch in the woods grinds his remains into a flying ointment, smearing it on her body to soar through the air. Rabbits appear often, hinting at the witch’s presence, as old folklore linked witches to hares.https://spoilertown.com/the-witch-2015/
Tensions rise with rotting crops and hunger. The twins claim a goat named Black Phillip whispers to them and is the devil himself.https://villains.fandom.com/wiki/Black_Phillip Caleb, the teen son, wanders into the woods with Thomasin and gets lost. A seductive woman, really the witch in disguise, tempts him before likely killing him. He stumbles home naked, wracked by a demonic fit, muttering about sin and salvation in a mix of prayer and blasphemy. He dies soon after.https://spoilertown.com/the-witch-2015/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=caAczg8zJts
Accusations fly. The family suspects Thomasin of witchcraft, especially after she prays desperately for God to deliver her from a sinful life, unknowingly inviting darker forces.https://creepycatalog.com/the-vvitch-explained-analysis-the-witch/ William admits he sold a charmed cup. Grief drives Katherine mad. One morning, Black Phillip gores William to death. Katherine attacks Thomasin in rage, but Thomasin grabs a billhook and kills her mother in self-defense.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=caAczg8zJts
Now alone and bloodied, Thomasin approaches Black Phillip in the barn. She asks him to speak. In a deep, tempting voice, he replies, “Wouldst thou like to live deliciously?” He offers butter, pretty dresses, freedom, and power. Thomasin says yes, strips naked, and walks into the woods. She joins a coven of witches dancing around a bonfire, the same ones who took Samuel. They chant and levitate, using ointments made from child fat, like Samuel’s, to fly. Thomasin rises with them, her face shifting from fear to laughter, maybe joy, madness, or dark freedom.https://spoilertown.com/the-witch-2015/https://creepycatalog.com/the-vvitch-explained-analysis-the-witch/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=caAczg8zJts
The ending leaves questions open. Was Black Phillip real, or family paranoia and grief? Did Thomasin embrace witchcraft for revenge and escape, or was it all a hallucination? Her flight suggests real damnation and twisted liberation from Puritan misery.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bc-DPphsuaM
Sources
https://spoilertown.com/the-witch-2015/
https://creepycatalog.com/the-vvitch-explained-analysis-the-witch/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=caAczg8zJts
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bc-DPphsuaM
https://villains.fandom.com/wiki/Black_Phillip
