History YMMV / TheWitch

* EsotericHappyEnding: At the end of the film, Thomasin [[spoiler:renounces her faith and the oppressive structures of Puritan society and joins the witches' coven]], and judging by the final shot of her face, she thinks of this as liberating or at least relieving after so much misery. However, considering [[spoiler:all of the suffering she endures in this movie is a direct result of Black Phillip and his witch servants purposefully destroying her family and breaking her down physically, mentally, and emotionally until she has no other choice but to either join them or die alone in the wilderness, the true meaning of this ending is that she has basically given in to grooming.]] Of course, it is still ambiguous whether [[spoiler:her expression is meant to reflect that she has just found happiness or rather that the events have finally driven her to insanity.]]

* CriticalDissonance: The film was critically-acclaimed upon release, but it was met with more of a split reception amongst general audiences, partially due to MisaimedMarketing that publicized the film as a conventional horror flick more than a psychological period piece. Critics appreciated the film's slow pace as a good way of building suspense whereas audiences were more likely to find said slow pace unexciting.

* MisaimedMarketing: The movie was billed as a straight-up supernatural horror story, when in reality it's closer to a psychological drama. Audiences expecting to see frequent blood, sex, jump scares and demon faces ended up being very bored with the film's slow build and atmosphere of increasing dread. The film gets compared to ''Film/TheBabadook'' and ''Film/CrimsonPeak'' for this reason.

** Katherine is initially paranoid and furious at William and Caleb for disappearing. William faces telling her that he sold her silver cup behind her back...and Caleb covers up by pretending he thought he saw an apple tree and they were hoping to surprise her. Katherine's mood changes completely and she gently thanks Caleb for thinking of her.

* EvilIsSexy:
** The witch in the woods takes the form of a busty, attractive young woman to ensnare [[spoiler: the lusty Caleb]].
** At the end of the film, Black Phillip appears to Thomasin as a handsome, sharply-dressed gentleman when he [[spoiler:successfully tempts her to witchcraft]]. He also speaks in an absurdly seductive whisper, almost like a caress.

* SugarWiki/MostWonderfulSound: For many viewers, [[spoiler: [[EvilIsSexy Black Philip]]'s [[ArousedByTheirVoice voice]]]].

* OneSceneWonder: The witch that [[spoiler:seduces Caleb]] does not appear past that one scene, with no dialogue either. Because she's a delightful blend of [[CreepyCute eerie]] and [[EvilIsSexy attractive]], most remember her.

* AlternateAesopInterpretation: The DownerEnding of the film is actually an upbeat ending for Thomasin. As a young woman living in the fairly oppressive and sexist 1630s Puritan society, her prospects in life don't go much beyond "being sold off to another family to become a housewife and mother". On top of that, she's already clearly TheUnfavourite of her own family. [[spoiler: By joining up with the coven, she's now free of that and implicitly allowed to "live deliciously".]] Notably, Creator/AnyaTaylorJoy herself [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UyOJ1lwsDaY&t=3m views the ending this way]], although many fans have disagreed.

* MisaimedFandom:
** The film was praised by the [[UsefulNotes/{{Satanism}} Satanic Temple]], which endorsed it as "an impressive presentation of Satanic insight" and even hosted several screenings of it. While their interpretation is believable, director Robert Eggers didn't intend the film to be an endorsement of any religion.

* EsotericHappyEnding: Inverted, oddly enough. Some interpret the film's DownerEnding in a much more positive context, as AlternateAesopInterpretation shows.

* AlternateAesopInterpretation: The DownerEnding of the film is actually an upbeat ending for Thomasin. As a young woman living in the fairly oppressive and sexist 1630s Puritan society, her prospects in life don't go much beyond "being sold off to another family to become a housewife and mother". On top of that, she's already clearly TheUnfavourite of her own family. [[spoiler: By joining up with the coven, she's now free of that and implicitly allowed to "live deliciously".]] Notably, Creator/AnyaTaylorJoy herself [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UyOJ1lwsDaY&t=3m views the ending this way]], although many fans have disagreed (see Misaimed Fandom below).

** Some people, including Creator/AnyaTaylorJoy herself, interpret the film as a feminist empowerment story and see the ending, in which Thomasin [[spoiler:renounces her faith and joins the witches' coven]], as an act of liberation from the patriarchal and oppressive structures of Puritan society, ignoring that [[spoiler:all of the suffering she endures in this movie is a direct result of Black Phillip and his witch servants purposefully destroying her family and breaking her down physically, mentally, and emotionally until she has no other choice but to either join them or die alone in the wilderness]]. Even though Puritan culture undeniably was a patriarchy, [[spoiler:Black Phillip's coven is ultimately just another form of servitude under a male authority figure, and, considering the acts he demands from his servants (infanticide, child-molestation, gas-lighting, etc.), an even ''worse'' one]].

* DeathOfTheAuthor: Creator/RobertEggers invoked this for himself when discussing the film: his intention was that [[spoiler: all the supernatural events depicted in the film were to be taken at face value]] but said that isn't the only way an audience member can interpret them; he specifically noted how the blight that destroyed the family's crops was ergot (a hallucinatory fungus that is now believed to have contributed to the hysteria of the Salem Witch Trials).
* DelusionConclusion: One theory claims that the Witch was just a hallucination brought about by eating the fungus-contaminated crops, especially since ergot poisoning is now a plausible explanation for the paranoia that caused the Salem Witch Trials. (See below for Egger's take on this.)

* SugarWiki/DevelopmentHeaven: Since colonial Puritan-style homes naturally didn't exist in their filming location in Ontario, they had to build them themselves, hiring historians and experts in colonial construction, furniture, and clothing in order to construct an authentic homestead using period-accurate materials. The portrayal of the titular witch was also rooted in actual folklore and mythology about witchcraft from that time period, with Eggers describing it as "a Puritan's nightmare". Outside of nighttime outdoor scenes, all lighting was done with candles and natural light. Even the score was recorded using instruments dating back to the 17th century.

* DelusionConclusion: One theory claims that the Witch was just a hallucination brought about by eating the fungus-contaminated crops, especially since ergot poisoning is now a plausible explanation for the paranoia that caused the Salem Witch Trials. (See below for Egger's take on this)

** Naturally the witch who seduces [[spoiler:Caleb]] is bound to get this, with many [=YouTube=] comments joking that they wish she'd do the same to them. [[spoiler:[[DoubleStandardRapeFemaleOnMale Caleb is twelve and being taken advantage of by a predator]], who then makes him walk all the way home naked in the rain]]. And while we do see multiple dark-haired [[spoiler:witches dancing by the fire at the end, there's a possibility the HotWitch wasn't her true form]].

** "Wouldst thou like to live deliciously?"[[note]]Usually captioned over any image of a black goat[[/note]]

** "Wouldst thou like to live deliciously?"

* MisaimedMarketing: The movie was billed as a straight-up supernatural horror story, when in reality it's closer to a psychological drama. Audiences expecting to see blood, sex, jump scares and demon faces ended up being very bored with the film's slow build and atmosphere of increasing dread. The film gets compared to ''Film/TheBabadook'' and ''Film/CrimsonPeak'' for this reason.

* ItWasHisSled: You won't have much luck finding anyone who doesn't know that Black Phillip is Satan in disguise.

* NauseaFuel: [[spoiler: Katherine is tricked into thinking she's breast feeding Samuel, when it's actually a crow pecking at her nipples. The next morning, you can even see the dried blood stains on her nightgown]].

* AlternateAesopInterpretation: The DownerEnding of the film is actually an upbeat ending for Thomasin. As a young woman living in the fairly oppressive and sexist 1630s Puritan society, her prospects in life don't go much beyond "being sold off to another family to become a housewife and mother". On top of that, she's already clearly TheUnfavourite of her own family. [[spoiler: By joining up with the coven, she's now free of that and implicitly allowed to "live deliciously".]] Notably, Anya Taylor-Joy herself [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UyOJ1lwsDaY&t=3m views the ending this way]], although many fans have disagreed (see Misaimed Fandom below).

* DeathOfTheAuthor: Eggers invoked this for himself when discussing the film: his intention was that [[spoiler: all the supernatural events depicted in the film were to be taken at face value]] but said that isn't the only way an audience member can interpret them; he specifically noted how the blight that destroyed the family's crops was ergot (a hallucinatory fungus that is now believed to have contributed to the hysteria of the Salem Witch Trials).

** Some people, including Anya Taylor-Joy herself, interpret the film as a feminist empowerment story and see the ending, in which Thomasin [[spoiler:renounces her faith and joins the witches' coven]], as an act of liberation from the patriarchal and oppressive structures of Puritan society, ignoring that [[spoiler:all of the suffering she endures in this movie is a direct result of Black Phillip and his witch servants purposefully destroying her family and breaking her down physically, mentally, and emotionally until she has no other choice but to either join them or die alone in the wilderness]]. Even though Puritan culture undeniably was a patriarchy, [[spoiler:Black Phillip's coven is ultimately just another form of servitude under a male authority figure, and, considering the acts he demands from his servants (infanticide, child-molestation, gas-lighting, etc.), an even ''worse'' one]].

* WhatAnIdiot:
** Thomasin was most likely lashing out because she was still stinging from Mercy's taunt, but claiming to be the witch that made Sam disappear and then threatening to do the same to everyone else was a ''horribly'' unwise decision. While Thomasin had no way of predicting how that would come back to bite her, Mercy or Caleb could have told their parents what she'd said and gotten her into an enormous amount of trouble, ''especially'' given that both parents were highly religious and still raw from Sam's disappearance... which Katherine already partially blamed her for.
** William for getting himself and his family banished from the Commonwealth and going into the wilds in the first place, to say nothing of his stubborn refusal to leave there as it clearly becomes a problem.

** People often jokingly insist on typing the title as "The VVitch", following the movie's stylization of it, ''and'' pronouncing it with a V sound.

* MemeticMutation: "Wouldst thou like to live deliciously?"

** That theory got even more amusing when Taylor-Joy starred in ''Film/LastNightInSoho'' alongside an actress named Creator/{{Thomasin|McKenzie}} whose character, going by the trailers, seems to be inhabiting her character's body in a form of MentalTimeTravel.

** William can be interpreted as being a devil worshiper all along. [[spoiler: The movie doesn't give us too much about why exactly the family was exiled other than his stubbornness and pride. He keeps around a black goat, and his children are constantly chanting pagan-like rhymes about it. He lies, steals, keeps secrets and lets other people take the blame. He is protective of his children when they're accused of witchcraft in a way that feels like he knows that they're innocent because he knows that he isn't. The goat finally disposing of him comes off as unreally sudden, unless it's just doing it because it has no use of him anymore. When he's locking the children in the shed, his sarcastic comment about how "if the goat was the devil, then he's danced with him quite a few times himself" might not be just a joke. Tomasin accusing him of being useless earlier, only useful for chopping wood, lends more sense to the goat very suddenly disposing of him, and his acceptance of his fate and his last words do imply that he knows what is going on and that he deserves it.]]

** William can be interpreted as being a devil worshiper all along. [[spoiler: The movie doesn't give us too much about why exactly the family was exiled other than his stubbornness and pride. He keeps around a black goat, and his children are constantly chanting pagan-like rhymes about it. He lies, steals, keeps secrets and lets other people take the blame. He is protective of his children when they're accused of witchcraft in a way that feels like he knows that they're innocent because he knows that he isn't. The goat finally disposing of him comes off as unreally sudden, unless it's just done with him. When he's locking the children in the shed, his sarcastic comment about how "if the goat was the devil, then he's danced with him quite a few times himself" might not be just a joke. Tomasin accusing him of being useless earlier, only useful for chopping wood, lends more sense to the goat very suddenly disposing of him, and his acceptance of his fate and his last words do imply that he knows what is going on and that he deserves it.]]