The Witch

by Robert Eggers

A New-England Folktale.

Genres: Horror, Film, Nonfiction, Plays, Historical, Adult, Gothic

236 pages, Hardcover

Published January 1, 2016

Reviews

[Renae Reads]

A haunting slow descent into absolute madness. One of my favorites as the screenplay illustrates how desperation and paranoia have disastrous consequences.

[Jacob Kolody]

What an incredible read. Interesting to see the detail that went into Robert Eggers’ script and the little things that were in there that he wasn’t necessarily able to make happen on screen. I also loved Carmen Maria Machado’s small part at the end of this book where she writes about what she felt the character of Thomasin was feeling at the end of the film. I just really enjoyed reading this and can’t wait for A24 to release more of these (“Hereditary” next, please.)

[Catherine]

Beautiful book for a great movie. It’s been a few years since I’ve seen the VVitch, but wow, it all came rushing back. I was really impressed at how well Eggers ramped up the dread in the final act of the screenplay. Reading the screenplay helped me better understand the dialogue, and it became very clear how much research went into this story.

[Laura]

“The Adversary oft comes in the shape of a he-goat. And whispers. Aye, whispers.”

A Masterpiece. Also, while this book was -way- overpriced it was really great to see Eggers' drawings how he imagined the characters and how detailed the screenplay was.

[fioo ! ♡ ∗ ˚ ˖࣪ ∗ ‎˖ ݁ . ° · ˚ ₊]

Obra maestra del terror.
Y ambientada en una Nueva Inglaterra del siglo XVII... BRUTAL.

[Riley Wolfram]

Thoughts:

1. I love reading screenplays.

2. Reading Eggers’s script for this film has only made me love it more, and further secured it as one of my favorites. The dialogue especially just sucks you in, ugh I just…it’s perfect honestly. A perfect script.

3. What a great well-rounded book. The discussion with Eggers and David Hall was so fascinating. I love when historians and artists just get to queen out. The ultimate conversation about interpretation of history and all the implications of why we feel drawn to study or view what we do as we do was so fascinating. So much is grey — so more than we want to think or admit. We really don’t have many answers in this life yall!

4. The concluding essay “Thomasin’s Answer” … yeah I love this idea of subconscious desire.

EGGERS IS THE GOAT (no pun intended)

[Katherine Sigarán]

A masterpiece

Robert Eggers has an innate gift for writing, very expectant to see, hear or read his next works.

"The Witch" and "The Lighthouse" seem to me to be exceptional films that keep hope in the cinema.

Una obra maestra

Robert Eggers tiene un don innato para la escritura, muy expectante para ver, oír o leer sus próximos trabajos.

"La Bruja" y "El Faro" me parecen don películas excepcionales que mantienen la esperanza en el cine.

[Juliana Abaúnza]

The Witch es mi película de terror favorita del siglo XXI y leer el guion fue una experiencia igual de emocionante y creepy a ver la película por primera vez. Además del guion (escrito en inglés antiguo, del siglo XVII, y con diálogos sacados de testimonios y diarios reales de la época), hay fotos, ilustraciones de la producción, una entrevista entre el director y un historiador y un texto divino sobre la decisión final de Thomasin, escrito por Carmen María Machado.

[Shubham Shetty]

Love the movie, was interesting to read the actual screenplay and better understand the puritanical era Olde English dialog used in the movie (which was really hard to understand without subtitles). However, as other reviewers stated, the binding of the book ruins the images and stills from the movie included. The focus of all the stills is blocked by the binding, which given the cost of the book seems like a major oversight by the publishers.

[Logan Agnew]

It turns out when you read a screenplay from a really good movie, it’s a really good read.

[Taylor]

The girlies and I are gonna go levitate in the woods ok? And yes thou would like to live deliciously as I should.

[Anet]

Never done before!!! Perfection!!!

[Jandcast]

Great screenplay, interesting to see what made it on screen and what was moved around. The scripts still stands well on its own. The interview with Hall and essay at the end are great additions. A great book for a great movie. Worth it.

[Nick]

Great movie, great screenplay. I read it to see if the screenplay would reveal some sort of context which the movie did not. There was a little bit of that. Thomasin's sexuality and the incest angle gets played up a bit more explicitly in the screenplay. If you had trouble understanding the archaic dialogue in the film, its also easier to read it. But where Black Phillip was purchased or obtained, was not revealed, nor what happens to the twins. The film is done quite tightly according to the script for the most part. In some ways, its better. Like I think the film is more opaque with actually showing the witch, which I preferred. But anyways yeah good movie good screenplay.

[Jelle Starremans]

Currently trying to read all the scripts from Robert Eggers (not all of those are on Goodreads) and he has a very interesting way of writing. It has a nice flow to it and reads with an certain speed.

Sadly, that was missing in this script. I couldn’t get into the flow of the script because of the way it was formatted. Also the old English wasn’t nice to read like in his other scripts. I know it’s a part of his style, and it didn’t bother me in the finished film but it did stop the rythm of the script.

Note: I fucking love the film. It’s in my top 50 of all time.

[John Schorg]

The screenplay is worth reading, especially since it contains the line for which this movie will always be remembered...
"Wouldst thou like to live deliciously?"
The rest of the book is disappointing. There is little about the actual production, and several of the photos are ruined by the binding. Some of the evocative images get split in half at just the wrong place.
This is the first of the A24 books that must be said is not worth the hefty price tag.

[Star Shining Forever]

There’s something a little off about the woods the family has settled in, and it’s making its way inside. It all starts with a missing silver chalice and it ends in blood and death and ruin… and new life.

[Keegan Maxwell]

One of my favorite films, great to read through some additional details that aren't captured on screen. The interview and additional insights, after the story, were great to read as well. Well worth the purchase.

[S D]

So Eggers had one point considering giving the Goat a human face. Just flashes of it, but at least know those behind the scenes images online are real.

Also the crow eating at Katherine is a horrifying image. She's already dead, she just doesn't know it yet.

[Daniel Méndez]

Una buena película del tipo de terror que a mí me gusta

[Andrew kutz]

It’s the witch do I need to say more

[Inês]

3.5

[Sam Levine]

Read before shooting SHES STILL HERE. So inspiring. The dialogue is direct and subtle and so real. Great pacing and dynamics. Never think of it as a grief movie but it is and it’s great.

[Imy]

They took certain liberties with the onscreen adaptation of the script that do not appear in the original screenplay, however this still managed to capture my attention in the same way.

[Joe Barber]

amazing screenplay. robert eggers is a genius.

anyways here’s a poem I wrote for a class based on this movie because why not I can type whatever I want here

Mercy

I will be your pestilence,
if you so choose
May your idols shackle you,

May your reverence be your tomb
I’ll be the blood-red famine
to your harvest moon

Washboard bonnet in the day,
white-tailed, aimless
I was God’s creature before

But who will you worship
when your false idols
dissolve in your hands,

Black smoke, black sand
diluted by the fragrance of your
disillusioned promised land

There are no gods in your dominion,
Oh Father,
no amount of prayer could wash

the sins from your black opium soul,
so perhaps I’ll play the role
I, your deliverance

I, your purgatory
Yet in this scalding desolation
you’ve engulfed me in,

I’ve found a freedom
once forgotten
beneath riverbeds and moss

I dance under a sinner’s starlight
with Lilith’s ghost
as a pigment of the Eden that you’ve lost

But as your flames dance around me
wearing new shackles once again,
you set me free

Don’t you see?
In seraph’s moonlight,
I rise like smoke

You’ve tried to consume me,
to devour my flesh from bone
to reduce me to charcoal, to stone

You’ve sent me to hell,
yet don’t you see? This one’s my favorite.
You’re my salvation after all

Despite the crusade you’ve taken
against my revelation,
I live on as a curse as your worst fears awaken

You’ve cursed me in the aether,
amidst black smoke, and black sand
yet here I remain,
forever born again.