Fans of scary movies often settle for far less than they deserve. The average horror film relies solely on jump scares as a substitute for anything remotely terrifying. That’s not to say that it’s a lazy genre for lazy filmmakers, per se, but horror movies should have more suspenseful moments and a feeling of looming dread. The Witch is unique in that it is genuinely unsettling and does not just rely on jump scares.

The film follows a family of seven during the 17th century. They are banished from their New England village and forced to live in the wilderness, far from any sign of civilization. As they embrace their new lifestyle, mysterious events start occurring and family members disappear until they come to the realization that there is a witch living among them. Accusations are thrown around as the family is faced with more horrible scenarios.

The Witch has a general atmosphere relevant to the genre and it actually makes the viewer feel sick and anxious. On top of that, several of the scenes are graphic and highly disturbing. This movie is definitely not for the faint of heart.

The movie stars Ralph Ineson (from Game of Thrones and the UK Office), Kate Dickie (from Game of Thrones), and some other new actors. Everyone’s performance is very convincing, including the children. The dialogue is written how people spoke in the 1600s, which is confusing. On top of that, their accents are thick, especially Ineson’s. A large portion of the dialogue in the film is hard to decipher but it doesn’t even matter because the plot is simple enough to guess what is happening.

Even though the plot is relatively understandable, it still has some unpredictable moments, which is unique these days. In a lot of horror films, it is easy to anticipate what will occur next, but The Witch keeps audiences guessing until the end.

With a small budget of $3.5 million, it has already made over $8.5 million in its opening weekend, which is impressive considering that it is a smaller film and that most people went to see Deadpool this past weekend. The Witch is a breath of fresh air for the horror genre and hopefully more films will attempt its unsettling atmosphere.