“Corruption, thou art my father!”: Conjuring Up a Theory to Make THE VVITCH a Tolerable Movie

Rating: 🐑

Trailer

It takes a lot for me to genuinely hate a movie, but I genuinely (and controversially) hate The VVitch. I’ve watched it at least five times, and I can’t do it. I get it, but I don’t understand the devoted fan base. For what it’s worth, I loved The Lighthouse, but for as much as I loved The Lighthouse, I hated The VVitch (if I ever have to hear someone say “the valleh” again in my life, I’ll shove Thomasin to the ground to sign my soul over first). However, I have a theory about the movie, and it’s the only redeeming quality (don’t look now, but my Leo is showing). I think the family was excommunicated because of incest. 

Now, I know that’s a BOLD claim, but hear me out. We’re never given a clear cut reason as to why they are forced to leave their community. The patriarch of the family, Ralph Ineson’s William, endlessly speaks of preserving the family’s purity in the name of “religion.” It’s a little odd he chose to take up residency in the middle of the absolute wilderness, with no nosy neighbors, especially in puritanical times (when organized religion was the hottest thing since the sliced, moldy bread that made organized religion accuse everyone of being a witch), but I don’t think it’s coincidental. I think William was drawn to this specific piece of land because the devil occupied those woods, and there’s a darkness surrounding his family (and it’s not just from the lack of electricity). 

Soon after the move, Anya Taylor-Joy’s Thomasin is washing clothes with her younger brother, Harvey Scrimshaw’s Caleb, at the river. There’s a very uncomfortable moment when Caleb appears to check out his sister’s cleavage for several seconds before continuing on. Caleb is at the precipice of puberty, and this scene is subtle, but I think it illustrates my point for two big reasons: Caleb is sexualizing his sister, and Thomasin’s breasts are swollen because she’s only a few months postpartum. 

The family has a newborn baby, and I believe the babe is Thomasin and William’s, and that’s why they were excommunicated to begin with (I stand by the fact that their departure wasn’t voluntary). I think William was (and still is) so consumed by the idea of purity that he wanted to preserve the bloodline, and he’s using his religion to justify his actions. I also think that’s why the twins are unnaturally close. They’re willingly mimicking the relationships they’ve witnessed during their upbringing, and that’s why they’re the first to accept Black Phillip. 

I also think that’s why the matriarch of the family, Kate Dickie’s Katherine, has a nightmare in the form of a breastfeeding crow. Katherine wants the baby to fully be hers, but the baby was actually delivered by Thomasin. The devil sensed Katherine’s insecurities and tortured her with them. The same can be said for Caleb. The witch (vvitch?) chooses to kiss Caleb because he’s coming of age, and he has a lot of repressed hormones and feelings he doesn’t know how to express, especially as far as his sister is concerned. Caleb ultimately dies chaste, rejecting his father’s ideology on some level, but not before barfing up an apple with a bite mark a la the Garden of Eden to represent his temptation after sucking face with the witch. 

Thomasin is freed in a different way because she was forced into her father’s sick ideas, whether it be carrying his baby or being forced into being a servant to a strange family. She has no choice, and quite frankly, she’s the only character I feel any sympathy towards. She jokes to Caleb about being the witch because she knows, whether it be consciously or subconsciously, what her family is doing is wrong, and it’s why her only redemption has to be that of a dark one. When it comes to her joining the ranks of evil in the end, I’ll turn to Lucille Bluth for three little words: “Good for her.” 

Maybe I’ve read one too many V.C. Andrews novels, but I think my theory has some serious legs (or hooves). It makes sense as to why Thomasin’s family is targeted by the devil, and it gives some more depth the film as a whole. As much as I detest this movie, I do appreciate how  it made me create an entire theory as a viewer, and it reminds me why I love movies in general. This movie isn’t a bad movie solely because I hate it, and another movie I love isn’t good solely because I love it. Movies leave themselves open to interpretation. You can talk about them from a million different angles and spawn a million different fan theories. That’s the real way to live deliciously.