The Witch (2015)
★★★ — The Witch (2015)
The Witch (stylised on its original promotional materials as The VVitch) is a 2015 Russian drama and thriller directed by Dmitry Fedorov. Running at a trim 90 minutes, the film plants itself firmly in the tradition of coming-of-age stories that refuse to play it safe, setting its central conflict not in a haunted house or a shadowy cityscape but in the altogether more ordinary, and in some ways more unsettling, world of a Soviet-style summer youth camp by the sea. Two teenage girls, Tonya and Lyudka, are thrown together as neighbours: one quiet and easily led, the other sharp-elbowed and calculating. A boy enters the picture, rivalries sharpen, and then something stranger begins to surface. The film sits at an interesting crossroads between social realism and supernatural drama, a combination that Russian cinema has visited before but rarely in quite this register.
Fedorov is not a household name outside Russian film circles, and the studio behind the production is not widely documented, which places this firmly in the category of modestly scaled, character-driven work rather than a prestige production or state-backed epic. The film stars Mariya Baeva and Darya Ekamasova in the central female roles, with Anatoliy Goryachev, Petr Kovrizhnykh, and Sofya Shutkina rounding out the principal cast. Baeva and Ekamasova carry much of the film's weight between them, their dynamic essentially functioning as the engine the whole story runs on. It is the kind of ensemble that lives or dies on the believability of its relationships rather than on star power, which gives the film a raw, unvarnished quality that can work in its favour. For context on what else Russian cinema was producing around the same period, it is worth glancing at reviews here of Anna (2019) and Hardcore Henry (2015), both also from Russia, though each operating in a very different register to this one. For a sense of how drama films of the same era were being made elsewhere in the world, the reviews of Mustang (2015) and Yi Yi (2000) offer useful points of comparison, the former in particular sharing a similar interest in young women navigating social pressure in a closed, watchful environment.
It is also worth noting, before we get into the review proper, that this film shares its English-language title with Robert Eggers' well-regarded 2015 American folk horror film, which has caused no small amount of confusion for anyone searching either title online. They are entirely separate productions with no connection to one another beyond the year of release and a broadly supernatural subject matter, so if you arrived here expecting the Eggers picture, do read on anyway, because what Fedorov has made is a polished but unremarkable piece of work that deserves to be assessed entirely on its own terms.
The VVitch (2015) is a slow-burning, atmospheric dive into Puritan-era paranoia that blends historical folklore with psychological horror to unsettling effect. Set in 1630s New England, it follows a devout family exiled to the edge of a dark forest, where isolation, religious extremism, and creeping dread begin to unravel their faith, and sanity. Director Robert Eggers meticulously recreates the period with (apparently) authentic dialogue, stark visuals, and an oppressive soundscape of whispers, animal cries, and dissonant strings that keep you on edge long before anything overtly supernatural occurs. The film leans heavily into mood over jump scares, evoking a Blair Witch-style sense of unease where it's less about what you see, more about what you fear might be watching from the trees. The practical effects and creature design are excellent: restrained, eerie, and rooted in European witch mythology rather than modern horror cliches. The twist (without giving anything away) is clever, thematically resonant, and lands with quiet, chilling power. That said, the archaic dialogue, while attempting to be historically accurate, can feel stiff or “drama club”-ish at times, creating emotional distance rather than immersion. Characters occasionally sound like they’re reciting scripture rather than speaking from the heart, which makes it harder to connect with their plight on a human level. And the pacing is deliberately slow, rewarding patience, but potentially alienating viewers seeking more conventional thrills. The VVitch isn’t for everyone, but it’s a striking, intelligent horror film that prioritises atmosphere, authenticity, and psychological decay over cheap shocks. Its folkloric terror lingers, its twist satisfies, and its commitment to tone is unwavering, even if its wooden delivery and slow burn keep it from true greatness. A solid, haunting piece of arthouse horror.
I'll be honest, the title overlap between this and the Eggers film is a genuine headache when you're trying to track down information, and it probably hasn't done Fedorov's version any favours in terms of visibility in Western markets. That said, for me the film holds its own as a quieter, more grounded sort of supernatural drama, even if it never quite commits to either the realist or the fantastical side of its premise with enough conviction to be truly memorable. The central rivalry between the two girls is the film's strongest card, and when it leans into that dynamic it has a real pulse to it. It's not a film I'd rush to revisit, but there's enough here to make it a worthwhile 90 minutes if you go in with your expectations calibrated accordingly. Sometimes a film that knows its own limits is more satisfying than one that overreaches.
Rating: ★★★ | Year: 2015 | Watched: 2026-05-05
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