Original poster artwork · Great Cinema Master List
Spoiler-free premise
Banished Puritan settlers in 1630s New England face crop failure, a missing infant, and suspicion centered on teenage daughter Thomasin.
Read expanded premiseLonger, still spoiler-free+
William and Katherine establish an isolated farm at the edge of a New England forest after leaving their Puritan settlement. Their infant vanishes while watched by daughter Thomasin, and crop failure, twins' games, and religious fear fracture the family.
Why it belongs
The Witch makes Puritan belief the medium of horror through period speech, natural light, animal presence, and a forest that absorbs every certainty.
Read expanded why it belongsThe fuller editorial case+
Candlelit rooms, gray fields, rotten corn, a black goat, whispered prayer, and Mark Korven's scraping choral score make faith sensorially oppressive—Anya Taylor-Joy's Thomasin remains alert inside a family interpreting crisis as sin.
Major award wins
No verified wins in this six-institution crosswalk.
Awards are reference metadata only · zero points in 40/40/20
Good for
Film Club
Descriptive guidance derived from rating, genre, runtime, mood, and GCML scores.
Institutional reference ranks
Sight & Sound—IMDb Top 250—AFI 100—
Reference metadata only · not part of the 40/40/20 score
Great Cinema Master List scores
Greatness8.6
Engagement8.8
Ease7.9
English · R Narrative Feature Mood: Dark & Intense
