The witch rating refers to a system of categorizing witches based on their skills, abilities, and level of power. This rating is commonly used in fictional works such as books, movies, and video games that involve witchcraft. Each witch is assigned a specific rating or rank, which determines their position within the magical community. The idea of a witch rating system has been popularized in various forms of media, often portraying witches as having different levels of expertise and proficiency in their craft. These ratings can range from simple classifications like "beginner" or "novice" to more complex systems with multiple tiers or levels. The witch rating typically takes into account several factors when determining a witch's proficiency.
Thomasin is a woman growing up in a tradition that denies her any power, but in a place where her very presence essentially gives her tremendous power. The Witch isn't so much a story of a family fighting back against a witch as it is a story of Thomasin slowly learning to navigate both poles of that dynamic, especially once the young twins start a whisper campaign against her to say that, no, she's the witch everybody's afraid of.
At the center of The Witch is the family s eldest daughter, a young woman named Thomasin Anya Taylor-Joy , whose coming of age is even more fraught for taking place in a secluded wilderness with only her family around. When the family s two young children, twins, start hinting that the woods contain a dark presence, their warning is treated not as a childish game, but as a very serious accusation that carries some weight.
The witch rating typically takes into account several factors when determining a witch's proficiency. These factors may include the strength and accuracy of their spells, their knowledge and understanding of magical theory, their ability to manipulate and control magical energy, and their overall mastery of their craft. In some cases, a witch's rating may also be influenced by their magical lineage or heritage.
The 17th-century horror of The Witch is troubling on multiple levels
What if the architects and accusers of the Salem witch trials had it right the whole time? What if the women of their community really were in league with the devil, conspiring in black of night and deep of woods? That’s not technically the premise of the new satanic horror film The Witch, which is set in 1630, more than half a century before a group of overzealous puritans put the mark of infamy on their Massachusetts seaport. Still, the events in Salem loom large over the events of the film, like the long shadows of gnarled tree branches. Subtitled “A New England Folktale,” The Witch could be seen as an origin story of American fanaticism—one of the many tall tales that might have inspired a group of young girls to start pointing fingers at their friends and neighbors. Just as easily, however, given the film’s self-advertised stabs at historical accuracy, one could read this singular shocker as something even more disturbing: a kind of fright-flick answer to Arthur Miller’s The Crucible, presenting a revisionist national history in which true evil exists and religious hysteria is the proper response to it.
AdvertisementThat’s a lot of freight, perhaps, to put on a movie co-starring a demonic ram. But The Witch, like The Exorcist before it, invites serious engagement; to question its implications—historical and religious—is to acknowledge that this is not just some run-of-the-mill exploitation of superstitious fears. As straight horror, The Witch is something special, transporting audiences to a bygone era that would look plenty frightening even without the paranormal activity that engulfs it.
AdvertisementMaking an unbelievably auspicious debut—too unbelievable; a Faustian pact was surely forged—writer-director Robert Eggers amps up the unholy menace from the opening frames. Facing banishment, a prideful English farmer removes his family from the comfort of their pilgrim community and heads straight into the surrounding woods. As their rickety wagon makes for the trees, in an ominously protracted long take, the soundtrack swells with anxious strings and a ghastly choir of questionably human voices. The message comes through loud and clear: There will be blood.
Advertisement“We will conquer this wilderness,” insists the father, William (Game Of Thrones’ Ralph Ineson), as they settle into their new secluded homestead. But misfortune arrives quickly. First, the infant of the family disappears, during an ill-fated game of peekaboo. Then the crops start dying. William’s wife, Katherine (Kate Dickie, another Thrones alum), prays for the soul of their missing child, while pleading with her husband to reverse their exile. Caleb (Harvey Scrimshaw), entering the throes of hormonal adolescence, can’t stop stealing glances at the milky exposed flesh of his older sister. And said sister, eldest daughter Thomasin (Anya Taylor-Joy, a revelation), nurses her own teenage angst, taunting her twin youngest siblings (Ellie Grainger and Lucas Dawson) with fibs about dancing with the devil. Tensions, in other words, run high even before the eeriness begins to escalate.
And boy does it ever escalate. The Witch doesn’t play coy about the nature of the threat; it makes good on its pulpy title. Without quite implying that the danger isn’t real—this isn’t one of those horror movies where it’d be easy to argue that it’s all in the characters’ heads—Eggers preaches hell as other people, augmenting the supernatural material with family conflict. Not that he skimps on the traditional scare fare: There are images, like one involving a ravenous raven, that deposit themselves immediately into the nightmare bank.
AdvertisementStill, more effective than the individual scares—a splash of blood in the milk bucket; an intense exorcism of sorts; the creepiest incognito seduction since The Shining, an obvious influence—is the specific context they’ve been provided. The Witch is a studiously researched period piece, evoking its 17th-century setting through everything from the handmade clothing to the creaky wooden architecture to the archaically formal dialogue, some of which was pulled directly from actual diaries of the period. Even the actors seem to have been selected as much for the old-fashioned severity of their features—enhanced by the natural light of a flickering candle or campfire—as for their comfort with the vernacular. By placing old tropes in an even older world, Eggers somehow makes them feel new again. The familiar becomes chillingly unfamiliar.
Then again, it’s that very commitment to environmental authenticity that makes The Witch so troubling, and not just in the way it intends. A postscript proudly boasts of the various historical accounts that Eggers consulted, all in the interest of meticulous realism. Which is to say, this is a movie that situates itself very purposefully in an actual time and place; it doesn’t require some huge mental leap to connect its fictional terrors to the very real ones inflicted upon a group of innocents in the same geographic region about six decades later. Is The Witch a vivid portrait of theological paranoia, showing a small community torn apart by its irrational suspicions? Or is it a cautionary tale about a family of Christians who leave the church, only to discover that such unfounded fears actually aren’t unfounded? Eggers seems to want it to be both, but the result is a horror movie that comes dangerously close to showing sympathy for the real devils, the kind that burned witches instead of instructing them. Good thing it’s scary.
It flirts, somewhat dangerously, with the notion that maybe those behind the Salem witch trials were onto something, since it introduces a literal witch before the end of the first act. And to really buy into it, you have to, in essence, immerse yourself not just in Christianity, but in an outmoded form of it, with a strict moral code and ferocious religiosity that will look foreign to most modern eyes.
For example, witches who come from a long line of powerful witches may have a higher rating than those with no magical lineage. Similarly, witches who have trained under renowned or experienced mentors may also have a higher rating due to the quality of their education. The purpose of the witch rating system is to provide a framework for understanding and comparing the abilities of different witches. It can also add a sense of hierarchy and competition among witches within the fictional world. Additionally, the rating system can help in creating engaging storylines and conflicts when witches with different ratings come into conflict or collaborate. It is important to note that the witch rating system is purely fictional and exists for entertainment purposes. In reality, witchcraft is not measured or categorized in this way. The concept of a witch rating is a creative device used in storytelling to enhance the narrative and create intrigue and excitement around the world of witches and magic..
Reviews for "The Witch Rating in Historical Context: Lessons from the Past"
1. John - 2/5 stars - I really didn't understand the hype surrounding "The Witch." I found it slow-paced and lacking any real scares. The story seemed convoluted and the ending left me feeling unsatisfied. I also found the dialogue difficult to follow and the acting to be subpar. Overall, I was disappointed and wouldn't recommend it to others.
2. Sarah - 1/5 stars - I couldn't stand "The Witch". The film was incredibly boring, with nothing interesting happening for the majority of its runtime. The characters were unlikable and the plot was confusing. The slow pacing made it feel like a chore to sit through, and I found myself checking my watch multiple times. I was really hoping for a terrifying horror film, but instead, I got a snooze-fest. I do not understand the positive reviews for this movie at all.
3. Mark - 2/5 stars - "The Witch" had an interesting premise, but it failed to deliver on its potential. The pacing was slow and there were long stretches of the film where nothing really happened. I did enjoy the cinematography and the atmosphere, but the lack of scares or tension was disappointing. The dialogue was also difficult to understand at times, which made it hard to fully engage with the story. Overall, while it had its moments, "The Witch" left me feeling underwhelmed.