WEBVTT - Xtras: The VVitch 0:00:16.960 --> 0:00:18.320 Hello and welcome. 0:00:18.800 --> 0:00:22.599 My name is Joel Monique and I'm Carmen Lalan. 0:00:23.079 --> 0:00:27.680 And welcome to x Ray Vision Extras and Xtra Vision series, 0:00:27.680 --> 0:00:32.080 where we died deep into even more of your favorite shows, movies, 0:00:32.200 --> 0:00:35.920 comics and pop culture. Every superhero team needs side quest, 0:00:35.960 --> 0:00:38.559 and our rotating panel of producers and guest hosts will 0:00:38.600 --> 0:00:40.640 be submitting to help Jason and Rosie cover all of 0:00:40.680 --> 0:00:42.680 the amazing nerd content out there. 0:00:43.159 --> 0:00:46.400 We're back today with a new series of extras in 0:00:46.520 --> 0:00:51.520 preparation for the highly anticipated Nose Fit upo by these 0:00:51.520 --> 0:00:54.480 two horror girlies, myself and Joelle, and we're going to 0:00:54.480 --> 0:00:57.840 be recapping the filmography of Robert Eggers and talking about 0:00:57.920 --> 0:01:02.360 him as a director. Thus and today we're starting with 0:01:02.400 --> 0:01:04.520 his first feature length film. 0:01:04.720 --> 0:01:12.480 The Witch. Oh my gosh. 0:01:12.640 --> 0:01:18.240 The Witch is a film that follows Tomlinson, a girl 0:01:18.280 --> 0:01:20.959 whose parents traveled to the New World to start over, 0:01:21.800 --> 0:01:26.120 and as she is kicked out of the community with 0:01:26.160 --> 0:01:30.440 the rest of her family because their father is a 0:01:30.480 --> 0:01:33.000 street preacher who is loud and annoying and when they 0:01:33.000 --> 0:01:35.440 asked him to calm down, he said, I'd rather live alone, 0:01:35.640 --> 0:01:36.959 and she said, and. 0:01:36.880 --> 0:01:38.440 So has no choice. 0:01:38.600 --> 0:01:41.160 They got to the woods to try to conquer nature 0:01:41.800 --> 0:01:43.040 in the ways of all white men. 0:01:43.560 --> 0:01:45.559 And it doesn't go well. 0:01:46.080 --> 0:01:49.480 You know, the crops they don't grow, the animals mean 0:01:49.560 --> 0:01:52.400 as hell, and then the family starts to turn on 0:01:52.440 --> 0:01:55.600 each other and that's pretty brutal. And mostly they're angry 0:01:55.600 --> 0:02:00.960 at Tomlinson for bizarre reasons. You know, the sun is 0:02:01.040 --> 0:02:06.800 sexually attracted to her, that's weird. The dad he sells 0:02:07.320 --> 0:02:09.480 his wife's jewelry and then blames it on his daughter, 0:02:09.639 --> 0:02:14.320 effin coward. And then yeah, the mom is I really 0:02:14.360 --> 0:02:17.079 think she's jealous of her beauty. And then later her 0:02:17.120 --> 0:02:20.519 youngest child is stolen by a witch while Thomlinson was 0:02:20.560 --> 0:02:23.239 watching her, and so now they're mad. 0:02:23.520 --> 0:02:24.880 The mom's really mad. 0:02:25.040 --> 0:02:31.120 Okay, then it really just dissolves into atmospheric craziness where 0:02:31.120 --> 0:02:32.320 they're just picking at each other. 0:02:32.440 --> 0:02:34.320 Mom breastfeeds a crow. More on that. 0:02:34.400 --> 0:02:39.040 Later, people start dying, children die, want to stick into 0:02:39.080 --> 0:02:40.040 the woods by a witch? 0:02:40.480 --> 0:02:41.640 How does a little sister die? 0:02:42.040 --> 0:02:49.680 Little sister dies from just like they're praying over oh right, Caleb, 0:02:50.320 --> 0:02:53.480 and she like tells she's like insisting that they get 0:02:53.480 --> 0:02:56.200 down on their knees to do their prayers. And they 0:02:56.280 --> 0:02:58.840 just like fall over. They're just like they just like 0:02:58.919 --> 0:02:59.480 drop dead. 0:03:00.240 --> 0:03:00.520 Yeah. 0:03:00.560 --> 0:03:04.840 Wow, yes, just from the chaos of it all, the 0:03:04.880 --> 0:03:08.400 twin bond, it was, it's strange. Okay, so that's really spooky. 0:03:08.720 --> 0:03:10.520 And then Dad tries to fight a goat and it 0:03:10.560 --> 0:03:13.160 doesn't go well. It does pretty bad. 0:03:14.360 --> 0:03:18.200 Dad dies from trying to fight the goat. And then yeah, 0:03:18.280 --> 0:03:21.359 it all ends with a showdown between Mom and thomasin. 0:03:21.720 --> 0:03:25.400 Yeah, and Thompson wins, thank god, because honestly she deserves 0:03:26.560 --> 0:03:29.680 We'll get into more. Is this good for her film 0:03:29.760 --> 0:03:36.240 or not? And then yeah, and then it ends with 0:03:35.760 --> 0:03:40.400 the devil black the goat on the farm, coming with a. 0:03:40.400 --> 0:03:43.560 Great question, what is that like to live? Deliciously? 0:03:44.120 --> 0:03:46.760 Twich Tonson says, oh, yeah, look, yeah, I can't sign 0:03:46.800 --> 0:03:49.440 my name, but I'm in, and he's like, great, don't 0:03:49.440 --> 0:03:51.600 worry about it, babe, I got you. And she goes 0:03:51.640 --> 0:03:53.320 and has the naked rave in the woods with her 0:03:53.360 --> 0:03:56.440 new witch buddies and learns to fly. Honestly, the best 0:03:56.440 --> 0:04:00.080 possible ending for this story, and that is a crazy 0:04:00.160 --> 0:04:01.800 we can't of the witch. 0:04:02.440 --> 0:04:02.960 The witch. 0:04:03.400 --> 0:04:06.520 Yeah, and the first time we see her smile is 0:04:06.560 --> 0:04:10.440 when she becomes a witch. Finally, so I say it 0:04:10.480 --> 0:04:12.640 is yeah, but will with more on that. 0:04:12.960 --> 0:04:16.320 In the episode she got a peekaboo smile and then 0:04:16.520 --> 0:04:18.280 right at the end and she's like, I'm actually free. 0:04:18.320 --> 0:04:20.640 You never have to watch another child ever again in life. 0:04:20.680 --> 0:04:24.920 I agree, what a choice. Okay, let's get into this movie. 0:04:25.160 --> 0:04:27.919 I was really excited when we sort of talked about 0:04:27.920 --> 0:04:28.599 doing this series. 0:04:28.640 --> 0:04:32.919 Egress is a really interesting new like guy on the scene. 0:04:32.960 --> 0:04:37.080 He comes along in his early thirties. I think he's 0:04:37.360 --> 0:04:40.320 thirty one thirty two when The Witch drops in twenty fifteen, 0:04:41.279 --> 0:04:46.760 and he had done a series of short films that were, 0:04:46.920 --> 0:04:50.480 you know, in his own words, not good, and then 0:04:50.640 --> 0:04:53.680 he made a proof of concept with Brothers and that 0:04:53.800 --> 0:04:54.719 sparks some attention. 0:04:55.360 --> 0:04:56.800 Brothers becomes the. 0:04:56.839 --> 0:05:01.120 Witch, and it was such a revelation for me this 0:05:01.279 --> 0:05:03.400 film because it has all of the things I like 0:05:03.480 --> 0:05:05.560 in a horror movie and have missed and I don't 0:05:05.600 --> 0:05:08.159 really think we've been served since a night. 0:05:08.160 --> 0:05:09.719 Shamalan's The Village. 0:05:10.360 --> 0:05:13.960 The Village, okay, which is a film I walked away loving, 0:05:14.000 --> 0:05:15.840 So prepare yourselves for whatever that might mean. 0:05:16.560 --> 0:05:19.320 I was thirteen. I lo came Village. Also, Phila, I 0:05:19.360 --> 0:05:21.360 got Carmen's sisters. I love it. Yeah. 0:05:21.600 --> 0:05:23.600 I was like, listen, it's creepy, it's weird, it's a 0:05:23.640 --> 0:05:25.520 lot of vibes. I don't think there are a lot 0:05:25.560 --> 0:05:29.240 of similarities between this film and The Witch and the 0:05:29.320 --> 0:05:32.760 village other than setting, but I had been missing the vibes, 0:05:32.920 --> 0:05:35.680 you know, and so to come back to a director who's. 0:05:35.400 --> 0:05:38.080 All about atmosphere, I was really really excited. 0:05:38.279 --> 0:05:40.440 Carmen, When did you first see this film and how 0:05:40.440 --> 0:05:41.760 did you feel after watching it? 0:05:42.040 --> 0:05:45.080 You know, every October, except for this past October because 0:05:45.080 --> 0:05:47.760 I was I was on a cruise ship. Every October, 0:05:47.800 --> 0:05:49.599 I like to do a I like to do a 0:05:49.640 --> 0:05:54.200 Halloween you know, list of movies every day to challenge 0:05:54.200 --> 0:05:56.680 myself to watch. So about two years ago, you know, 0:05:56.720 --> 0:05:58.599 they were like, watch a movie about witches, and I 0:05:58.600 --> 0:06:00.480 was like, oh, well, I've always wanted to watch The Witch. 0:06:00.839 --> 0:06:03.679 Finally put it on and I loved it. I didn't 0:06:03.720 --> 0:06:06.400 fully and I was just saying this before we started recording. 0:06:06.440 --> 0:06:10.159 I didn't fully understand it on my first watch, but 0:06:10.240 --> 0:06:12.520 I knew that I loved it. And then when I 0:06:12.520 --> 0:06:14.839 went back and watched it for the second time in 0:06:14.920 --> 0:06:17.560 preparation for this I was like, Oh, I fucking love 0:06:17.680 --> 0:06:21.000 this movie and I need to watch this every year, 0:06:21.200 --> 0:06:23.760 maybe multiple times a year, because it's so good. 0:06:23.800 --> 0:06:26.719 What is it that you love about the movie specifically? 0:06:27.760 --> 0:06:31.440 Oh, my gosh, so first of all vibes. We've been 0:06:31.480 --> 0:06:35.480 talking about the vibes. Okay, it is, in my opinion, 0:06:36.200 --> 0:06:42.560 the perfect example of you know, great cinematography, great sound design, 0:06:43.240 --> 0:06:49.400 great location, and just a perfect, perfect use of such 0:06:49.440 --> 0:06:53.240 a small budget as well. It blows my mind that 0:06:53.360 --> 0:06:59.040 this movie only has a four million dollar budget, right, yeah, 0:06:59.080 --> 0:07:01.440 And it looks as good as it does, and it's 0:07:01.480 --> 0:07:04.600 as like fully like it feels as fully fleshed out 0:07:04.600 --> 0:07:07.440 as it does. And I think the other thing I 0:07:07.520 --> 0:07:10.840 really enjoy about this movie is that it's also a 0:07:10.840 --> 0:07:15.360 perfect example of why ninety minute movies are the perfect 0:07:15.480 --> 0:07:15.880 kind of. 0:07:15.880 --> 0:07:17.160 Movie king makers. 0:07:17.440 --> 0:07:21.559 Yes, yes, I love Christopher Nolan, but sometimes he needs 0:07:21.600 --> 0:07:27.800 to edit, okay, And you know, Robert Eggers really makes 0:07:27.840 --> 0:07:30.840 a great use out of these ninety minutes. And it 0:07:30.880 --> 0:07:33.720 really doesn't feel like any moment of the movie is wasted. 0:07:33.800 --> 0:07:38.080 It doesn't feel like anything is is indulgent or anything 0:07:38.120 --> 0:07:41.160 at all. It feels like each minute really takes you 0:07:41.240 --> 0:07:42.640 on a really awesome journey. 0:07:42.640 --> 0:07:44.680 You know, I agree, and it sort of goes into 0:07:44.720 --> 0:07:46.360 what I love about this movie, but also a large 0:07:46.360 --> 0:07:47.080 critique of the film. 0:07:47.200 --> 0:07:48.680 So yeah, one of the. 0:07:48.640 --> 0:07:50.720 Biggest critiques of the film is they're like, oh, it 0:07:50.800 --> 0:07:54.400 feels draggy in points like it there are some and 0:07:54.440 --> 0:07:56.560 I don't mean like drag performances, I mean like it 0:07:56.920 --> 0:08:00.600 lags in some spaces. Yeah, like, yeah, there's two at aspheric, 0:08:00.760 --> 0:08:05.800 there are not there's nothing driving the story forward. I 0:08:05.960 --> 0:08:09.000 completely disagree. Like that's a really mind boggling statement. It's 0:08:09.000 --> 0:08:10.560 a feeling a lot of people have. But for me, 0:08:11.080 --> 0:08:12.800 what I love about the film is like a really 0:08:13.320 --> 0:08:16.480 character study on a family. Yes, for me, I walk 0:08:16.520 --> 0:08:19.600 away thinking about a pious father who thinks he knows 0:08:19.640 --> 0:08:22.320 best for everyone so much so that he shuns society. 0:08:22.920 --> 0:08:27.680 Has like this very toxic masculine idea of like I 0:08:27.760 --> 0:08:31.960 will conquer the woods, and if you think about manifestociny 0:08:31.960 --> 0:08:34.200 in this country and these being like an early settler 0:08:34.720 --> 0:08:38.280 and sort of embodying that idea, and too, on top 0:08:38.320 --> 0:08:40.680 of that, you get like the creation of Anya Taylor 0:08:40.760 --> 0:08:42.600 joy am I that I mean, this is a superstar 0:08:42.760 --> 0:08:47.040 vehicle that launched a Superstar because it's such a challenging role. 0:08:47.520 --> 0:08:51.480 Dialogue alone is really really intensely difficult. Eggers pulled a 0:08:51.480 --> 0:08:56.480 lot of these lines directly from historical texts. You have 0:08:57.360 --> 0:09:01.200 a lot of great character actors doing some really great work, 0:09:01.840 --> 0:09:06.080 and then you get this mythos created around the woods. 0:09:06.080 --> 0:09:08.520 And if you're a person who like it, we both 0:09:08.600 --> 0:09:12.600 like horror. I mean, American horror really derives from two places. 0:09:12.600 --> 0:09:13.280 It's everywhere. 0:09:13.280 --> 0:09:15.599 Like you can come to the Southwest and there's a 0:09:15.640 --> 0:09:17.760 lot of desert horror stories. There's a lot of mountain 0:09:17.800 --> 0:09:21.520 horror stories. These are vital. But I think for me, 0:09:21.720 --> 0:09:23.480 or at least in the way I was educated, I'm 0:09:23.559 --> 0:09:25.240 leaving a lot of caveats because I'm not a historian. 0:09:25.240 --> 0:09:27.000 I don't want to claim anything, but I think a 0:09:27.040 --> 0:09:31.600 lot of really great history comes out of Louisiana and 0:09:31.600 --> 0:09:35.720 our swamps are deep South spaces and New England and 0:09:35.720 --> 0:09:36.319 the woods. 0:09:36.559 --> 0:09:38.880 I grew up in the woods. My backyard was a 0:09:38.920 --> 0:09:39.480 state park. 0:09:39.760 --> 0:09:40.840 Oh wow, this is creepy. 0:09:41.200 --> 0:09:45.200 Maybe making a lot of like cracky noises, things be 0:09:45.240 --> 0:09:50.120 slithering out, people disappear within, and he cantually embodies all 0:09:50.160 --> 0:09:53.520 of that, but he does it all of that tonally 0:09:53.600 --> 0:09:56.800 within the family dynamic, and what you're seeing and experiencing 0:09:56.840 --> 0:10:00.640 throughout this film is a family rejecting an out broken daughter. 0:10:00.880 --> 0:10:03.679 Egger said that he selected Anya because at first he 0:10:03.760 --> 0:10:06.839 was gonna have Tomlinson be really homely, kind of ugly, 0:10:06.880 --> 0:10:10.599 and he was like, but our main character needed to 0:10:10.640 --> 0:10:13.600 be somebody who could never be a puritan, right, would 0:10:13.600 --> 0:10:17.720 absolutely have to be rejected, Like Anya Taylor Joy is gorgeous, 0:10:18.160 --> 0:10:21.079 so there's going to naturally be a covetous nature around her, 0:10:21.080 --> 0:10:24.400 whether that's sexual or she's the popular girl or whatever. 0:10:24.679 --> 0:10:29.079 Like that stirs in humans some kind of conflict immediately. 0:10:29.320 --> 0:10:31.880 Nothing needs to happen, It just naturally occurs within us, right, 0:10:32.720 --> 0:10:35.960 and when you brace it against a fanatical father and 0:10:36.000 --> 0:10:37.120 then isolate them. 0:10:37.120 --> 0:10:42.600 He said that a big inspiration was, uh, the shining. Yeah, 0:10:42.960 --> 0:10:43.800 the shining. 0:10:44.240 --> 0:10:47.120 He said he's embarrassed how much he sees the shining 0:10:47.120 --> 0:10:49.480 in this movie when he goes back and watches it, and. 0:10:49.840 --> 0:10:52.920 Don't be embarrassed. Bro, Yeah, I don't you made it 0:10:53.000 --> 0:10:53.560 much cooler. 0:10:53.600 --> 0:10:55.520 I don't want to say cooler, but yeah, like the 0:10:55.600 --> 0:10:58.480 choices you made to build on again, if you're a 0:10:58.480 --> 0:10:59.920 person who's costantly building a narrative. 0:11:00.000 --> 0:11:01.800 I guess is I don't see any reason that taking. 0:11:01.600 --> 0:11:05.320 From the best and yeah, yeah, twisting it in a 0:11:05.320 --> 0:11:07.640 way that makes it interesting and fun in a new 0:11:07.679 --> 0:11:08.680 way for your audience. 0:11:08.720 --> 0:11:10.480 I think that's just storytelling. 0:11:11.360 --> 0:11:13.720 Because I would have never have if I had not 0:11:13.760 --> 0:11:15.840 watched the interview where he talks about how much the 0:11:15.840 --> 0:11:19.000 Shining inspired him for this, I would have never really 0:11:19.240 --> 0:11:20.760 pieced that together myself. 0:11:20.880 --> 0:11:22.760 It's not the first thing that comes to mind. 0:11:23.040 --> 0:11:26.480 Yeah, because it's not even in the same sort of setting. 0:11:26.640 --> 0:11:29.439 But yeah, not Yeah, the setting is different. 0:11:30.040 --> 0:11:36.080 Your father, while a fanatic, is not necessarily a villain, right, 0:11:36.160 --> 0:11:39.080 And that's really interesting, Like he's really. 0:11:39.840 --> 0:11:42.760 Trying to hold the family together, but also right the 0:11:42.840 --> 0:11:44.439 reason that they're out there. 0:11:44.760 --> 0:11:47.840 Yeah, through a flawed pretense, Like he really believes if 0:11:47.840 --> 0:11:51.800 I love God enough and I am devout enough, then 0:11:51.920 --> 0:11:53.640 I will be able to do the thing that's been 0:11:53.679 --> 0:11:56.199 promised to me by my culture, the thing I left 0:11:56.200 --> 0:11:58.719 my home country to do, which is to establish this 0:11:58.800 --> 0:12:01.480 new land as a free space God. Okay, that totally 0:12:01.480 --> 0:12:06.400 makes sense for this character. And I think knowing that 0:12:06.559 --> 0:12:08.600 having a pious wife on top of that, who's clearly 0:12:08.640 --> 0:12:12.720 so jealous of her daughter. Watching the two younger siblings 0:12:12.760 --> 0:12:17.680 completely one has a creepy, weird sexual obsession with his sister, 0:12:18.120 --> 0:12:21.400 and the other it's kind of like she's a child, 0:12:21.480 --> 0:12:24.040 but she's kind of bratty. Can we call out baby 0:12:24.080 --> 0:12:29.440 girl for this? She's a little bratty. She's not a wind, yes, 0:12:29.640 --> 0:12:33.480 but she's a little bratty. Boy creepy needs to see 0:12:33.520 --> 0:12:35.640 a therapist. Not gonna find one out in these woods. 0:12:36.640 --> 0:12:39.280 And so I think just as a woman in America 0:12:39.320 --> 0:12:41.839 and the very idea of like, okay, this is early 0:12:42.120 --> 0:12:45.880 settlers were really looking at an American story really tainted 0:12:46.360 --> 0:12:51.040 by a Christian belief to the point of complete isolation. 0:12:51.320 --> 0:12:53.360 And then you have a young woman who's she's just 0:12:53.360 --> 0:12:55.400 trying to free think and like eat and have nice things, 0:12:55.400 --> 0:12:59.000 and people are like, you're bad. Her father lies on her. 0:12:59.600 --> 0:13:01.480 I says, wasn't going to be a recap. Let me 0:13:01.600 --> 0:13:04.840 tighten this up. I think that I really connect with 0:13:04.880 --> 0:13:07.320 Tominson as a character as somebody who's like, I don't 0:13:07.360 --> 0:13:10.560 understand why who and what I am is so offensive 0:13:10.559 --> 0:13:16.160 to everyone? Yes, and her journey it's why Okay, to 0:13:16.880 --> 0:13:20.280 conclude on this part, do you think this is a good. 0:13:20.160 --> 0:13:23.439 For her movie kind of I think it is. 0:13:23.559 --> 0:13:25.760 And then there's like two ways that I think you 0:13:25.800 --> 0:13:28.880 could interpret, like the ending of the movie, and there's 0:13:28.920 --> 0:13:32.320 a lot of foreshadowing throughout the movie. So the first 0:13:32.320 --> 0:13:35.160 way that I want to interpret it is that she 0:13:35.360 --> 0:13:39.160 is actually being led to becoming a witch the entire 0:13:39.559 --> 0:13:40.920 throughout the entire movie. 0:13:41.120 --> 0:13:43.160 Oh yeah, and it's just. 0:13:43.200 --> 0:13:45.640 Kind of like she's not even aware of it, but 0:13:45.760 --> 0:13:48.680 her fam what her family is accusing her of and 0:13:48.720 --> 0:13:52.280 all of this, She's subconsciously being led to becoming a 0:13:52.320 --> 0:13:55.599 witch by this witch in the woods, because there's the 0:13:55.600 --> 0:13:58.120 whole conversation where she like jokes about being the witch 0:13:58.120 --> 0:14:00.800 in the woods. We get all these familiars that are 0:14:00.800 --> 0:14:03.120 showing up to the house and seemingly trying to connect 0:14:03.200 --> 0:14:06.320 with her. But then the other mind, you know, the 0:14:06.400 --> 0:14:09.560 other way I think of it, or I interpret it 0:14:09.600 --> 0:14:13.400 is her family rejects her so much, which is something 0:14:13.400 --> 0:14:16.280 that I also relate a lot to of course in 0:14:16.400 --> 0:14:18.680 this movie when I watch it as like being villainized 0:14:18.720 --> 0:14:21.960 by your family, being rejected by your family, and they 0:14:22.720 --> 0:14:26.000 reject her so much that she is forced to becoming 0:14:26.000 --> 0:14:29.200 a witch as her only other way forward. 0:14:29.600 --> 0:14:30.760 You know, and like and. 0:14:31.440 --> 0:14:33.560 All of the bad things that they've said about her, 0:14:33.640 --> 0:14:36.520 and all of these things become true because they've given 0:14:36.560 --> 0:14:39.680 her no other other option to explore. 0:14:40.360 --> 0:14:43.560 I completely agree, And let's we'll pick up. 0:14:43.520 --> 0:14:45.080 More on that when we come back, and we'll talk 0:14:45.120 --> 0:14:48.680 about Robert Edgars at the start of his career after 0:14:48.720 --> 0:15:19.120 this commercial break. 0:15:07.040 --> 0:15:10.040 And when we're back. Okay, here we are. 0:15:10.360 --> 0:15:16.000 Okay, So Mariger is really interesting kind of dude. I 0:15:16.040 --> 0:15:19.040 watched a ton of energies in preparation for our discussion, 0:15:19.480 --> 0:15:21.480 and something that kept coming up is people wanted to 0:15:21.960 --> 0:15:25.800 understand if I remember, this is before we have the Lighthouse, 0:15:25.840 --> 0:15:31.280 before we understand really more intently, the obsession with history 0:15:31.320 --> 0:15:34.240 with the Northmen. They were like, do you believe in witches? 0:15:34.360 --> 0:15:36.720 It is so like what which literature are you reading? 0:15:36.880 --> 0:15:40.200 And what about God? Like, what's your relationship with God? 0:15:40.320 --> 0:15:40.400 Like? 0:15:40.480 --> 0:15:43.360 And he was very fervent upfront, like I'm not going 0:15:43.400 --> 0:15:45.720 to talk about my faith, Like I'm keeping that private. 0:15:45.760 --> 0:15:47.120 That's a choice I'm making. 0:15:47.520 --> 0:15:49.680 It's a thing I think we'll come back to again 0:15:49.720 --> 0:15:51.920 and again in this series as we examine his films. 0:15:52.240 --> 0:15:54.200 I think people kind of can't help but want to 0:15:54.240 --> 0:15:58.400 know the artists behind the art. Particularly if you're struck 0:15:58.440 --> 0:16:00.560 by this, I will say what I I find really 0:16:00.560 --> 0:16:04.120 interesting about Edgar's the stuff that he does choose to reveal. 0:16:04.520 --> 0:16:07.080 So one I watched a lot of interviews. 0:16:07.080 --> 0:16:12.160 My favorite was an interview speech combo from BAFTA that 0:16:12.360 --> 0:16:13.240 he did in. 0:16:13.160 --> 0:16:15.640 Like I think twenty nineteen. 0:16:15.760 --> 0:16:18.760 It's after the Lighthouse but before the Northman, and in 0:16:18.800 --> 0:16:21.520 it he says that he's really happy that people view 0:16:21.560 --> 0:16:24.200 The Witch as a feminist film, despite the fact that 0:16:24.280 --> 0:16:27.400 he didn't set out to make a feminist film. He 0:16:27.440 --> 0:16:30.680 actually set out to make a film about literally the 0:16:30.800 --> 0:16:34.640 Witch in the woods. He said, early drafts mostly featured 0:16:35.200 --> 0:16:38.680 her and how she was coming after the family, but 0:16:38.840 --> 0:16:41.920 as investors and producers were around, they had suggested sort 0:16:41.920 --> 0:16:46.120 of flipping that angle and making Tomlinson the main character 0:16:46.760 --> 0:16:47.880 and allowing. 0:16:47.520 --> 0:16:49.560 The Witch to be this sort of secret thing. 0:16:49.640 --> 0:16:52.800 So when you understand like that really opened up my 0:16:52.840 --> 0:16:56.520 head a little bit about how much impact because I 0:16:56.520 --> 0:16:58.880 didn't think the witches were having a lot of impact 0:16:58.920 --> 0:17:00.960 to you know, before we went to break, you were 0:17:00.960 --> 0:17:03.640 talking about how much she felt that Tomlinson had no 0:17:03.680 --> 0:17:06.159 other choice, she had to become a witch. 0:17:06.720 --> 0:17:09.480 It's much more sinister to I think view film. 0:17:09.680 --> 0:17:12.720 Oh, there's a plan happening behind all of this and 0:17:12.760 --> 0:17:16.920 it's working. Yes, How did you feel about like, if 0:17:16.920 --> 0:17:19.359 you walk away from this film, do you think there 0:17:19.560 --> 0:17:23.400 is and how do I want to I was gonna 0:17:23.400 --> 0:17:24.440 ask you if you think there's a villain, But I 0:17:24.440 --> 0:17:25.600 think that's a silly question. 0:17:27.280 --> 0:17:27.719 I guess. 0:17:27.960 --> 0:17:29.960 Here's the other thing that a lot of folks were 0:17:30.040 --> 0:17:32.919 sort of debating, is is this a horror film or not? 0:17:33.680 --> 0:17:33.800 Right? 0:17:33.880 --> 0:17:37.119 Is it a psychological thriller or a horror film? Is 0:17:37.160 --> 0:17:39.560 there something that's driving this in either direction? 0:17:39.720 --> 0:17:42.280 For you? I see it as kind of both. 0:17:42.359 --> 0:17:46.240 I feel like there it truly is in my opinion, 0:17:47.440 --> 0:17:50.879 it's like a good old classic horror film. But it 0:17:50.920 --> 0:17:54.080 does have those elements of psychological thriller in the sense 0:17:54.119 --> 0:17:58.600 that like the family's heads are constantly being fucked with, 0:17:58.880 --> 0:18:02.840 and and the mom is being messed with because of 0:18:02.880 --> 0:18:06.600 the death of her, her children, Thomasin is being messed 0:18:06.640 --> 0:18:09.960 with because of the being blamed for all of these 0:18:10.000 --> 0:18:13.600 deaths of the children and the family. But the horror 0:18:13.640 --> 0:18:19.400 elements for me are the creepy, just like atmospheric things 0:18:19.400 --> 0:18:21.359 that are going on, like I love all of the 0:18:21.400 --> 0:18:25.440 different appearances of the familiars. I love when we go 0:18:25.560 --> 0:18:29.280 into the woods and we really see like one of 0:18:29.359 --> 0:18:31.720 the most chilling scenes is when we see the Witch 0:18:31.760 --> 0:18:35.560 in her young form and yes. 0:18:35.640 --> 0:18:44.680 She she snatches donning, Yes she's sunnying. I too would 0:18:44.680 --> 0:18:49.520 follow Caleb Calees, Caleb, the eldest brother, Caleb. Yes, I 0:18:49.560 --> 0:18:52.119 would absolutely follow this gorgeh beauty into the woods as 0:18:52.119 --> 0:18:53.800 she were to promise me literally anything. 0:18:54.200 --> 0:18:56.920 Yeah, it's it's very chilling. So I think it has 0:18:57.080 --> 0:18:59.320 elements of both. And then of course, like I didn't 0:18:59.400 --> 0:19:02.159 mention this at the top, but like people say, you know, 0:19:02.480 --> 0:19:04.760 you were talking about how people talk about how this 0:19:04.840 --> 0:19:06.879 is a slow burn and the movie doesn't really start 0:19:07.000 --> 0:19:11.720 until until Black Phillips shows up. And I disagree, because 0:19:11.760 --> 0:19:14.880 the movie within the first ten minutes, we kill a baby, 0:19:15.400 --> 0:19:19.720 we crush up the baby, and we're we're bathing our body. 0:19:19.920 --> 0:19:26.800 Sound is horrible. Yes, the carbon the baby bones crushing 0:19:26.880 --> 0:19:30.320 in the being mashed into a pulp. Oh my god. 0:19:30.440 --> 0:19:32.520 And so that just sticks with you. That sticks with 0:19:32.560 --> 0:19:35.159 you the whole rest of the time you're watching the movie. 0:19:35.280 --> 0:19:39.600 It's so creepy, like it's so scary yeah, the image 0:19:39.640 --> 0:19:41.960 of the witch like bathing herself in the blood, like 0:19:42.040 --> 0:19:42.680 it's scary. 0:19:43.160 --> 0:19:45.880 Yeah, it's genuinely scary. 0:19:46.040 --> 0:19:49.000 I think there's two key moments to me that's really 0:19:49.040 --> 0:19:51.840 set this up as a horror film. So one is 0:19:51.880 --> 0:19:54.560 the opening which Edgar's actually said that he did not 0:19:54.720 --> 0:19:57.560 want to do the introduction to the film. He fuck 0:19:57.680 --> 0:19:59.880 it really really hard. But they were like, we need 0:19:59.880 --> 0:20:03.639 to know what they left behind. We need to understand. 0:20:03.880 --> 0:20:06.520 This is for me a very key element. You understand 0:20:06.920 --> 0:20:11.040 who the father is, You understand what is being taken 0:20:11.080 --> 0:20:13.960 from Tomlinson. In this moment where she's like, I would 0:20:13.960 --> 0:20:17.040 really like to say, you have the community. You know, 0:20:17.040 --> 0:20:20.000 there's a lot of options for her here. You understand 0:20:20.119 --> 0:20:24.679 the abject horror of there's no one around like you 0:20:25.080 --> 0:20:27.560 really there's not a lot of people here. At one 0:20:27.560 --> 0:20:30.000 point you see like like a crew of Indigenous people 0:20:30.040 --> 0:20:33.480 just like walking by, Like there's a tentative peace in 0:20:33.560 --> 0:20:37.960 this space that both your knowledge of American history and 0:20:39.720 --> 0:20:42.000 the closing of that gate really solidify as being like 0:20:42.400 --> 0:20:44.600 this is all tentative, but you want to be withinside 0:20:44.600 --> 0:20:47.800 this gate. It's safer inside the gates, right, stupid, don't 0:20:47.840 --> 0:20:50.280 leave especially because they give him so many chances to stay. 0:20:50.600 --> 0:20:53.200 They're like, bruh, just like repent and don't do that, 0:20:53.280 --> 0:20:55.600 Like you can't be yelling in the streets about your God. 0:20:55.640 --> 0:20:57.920 And he's like, no, you're all crazy, you're forgetting why 0:20:57.960 --> 0:21:00.320 we came, and which I. 0:21:00.280 --> 0:21:02.040 Meant kind of agrees with him. 0:21:02.040 --> 0:21:04.760 But then part of me is like, dude, just suck 0:21:04.800 --> 0:21:06.679 it up and stay. 0:21:06.920 --> 0:21:08.800 This is what it is to live in a society, sir. 0:21:08.960 --> 0:21:13.919 It's it's frequently sacrificing and coming to the middle on things. 0:21:14.280 --> 0:21:14.480 Yeah. 0:21:14.560 --> 0:21:16.760 No, this was clearly a foolish or immediately you're like, 0:21:16.760 --> 0:21:19.400 oh god, no. The second is the witch scene you describe. 0:21:19.720 --> 0:21:23.000 Egers grew up in New England, and he said that 0:21:23.240 --> 0:21:27.600