'The Witch' is, in that sense, an anti-parable. That's the dark beauty of Eggers's expansive story: it's not just about the marginalized presence of women in a male-dominated microcosm, but the harsh conditions that can, even under extremely isolated circumstances, lead women to resentment, and crippling self-doubt. There are other subplots in 'The Witch,' but all roads eventually lead to Thomasin. Still, Thomasin absorbs the brunt of her family's anxieties: her younger siblings look to her for comfort, but she balks at the added pressure, especially after her mother makes her do more chores than the rest of her family members. Thomasin undergoes puberty under the mistrustful eyes of her family, but realistically, they're not too concerned with her when crops are failing, money is scarce, and Samuel is missing. Or it could be her eldest son Caleb ( Harvey Scrimshaw), a young man desperate to defend his father from his mother's frustration.īut more often than not, 'The Witch' concerns Thomasin ( Anya Taylor-Joy), the eldest of Katherine and William's five children. The film's main protagonist might be William ( Ralph Ineson), Katherine's troubled husband. And it's definitely not Katherine's mischievous young twins Jonas and Mercy ( Lucas Dawson and Ellie Grainger, respectively), though Mercy does often speak for her and her brother's inability to understand how the world works after their family is banished to a foreboding forest by a nearby colony. For a while, it is unclear which character is exactly the focus of 'The Witch.' It's probably not grieving mother Katherine ( Kate Dickie), though Eggers gives ample consideration to her mourning of infant son Samuel, who has disappeared under unusual circumstances.

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