30 Woman-Friendly Horror Movies for the Thrill-Seeking Feminist
By Emily Scott
The Witch
The Witch, Screencap via A24/Parts and Labor/Rooks Nest Entertainment/RT Features
Sub-Genre: Witches
What it’s about: In a Puritan community in the 1600s, a family of seven is getting acclimated to their new settlement, a house and farm they built after leaving their old town under threats of banishment. Thomasin, the oldest daughter, is playing with her newborn baby brother when he suddenly disappears. Further strange events happen to Thomasin’s siblings and parents, to the point that her mother begins to suspect Thomasin of witchcraft. The more tragedy strikes, the more Thomasin must convince her mother of her innocence, before she takes revenge on her.
What makes it feminist: The Witch perfectly exemplifies the paradox of young girls. On the one hand, they have no power – certainly less than adults, even less than young boys. They are subordinate, oppressed, and expected to defer to both grown-ups and anyone male. On the other hand, people are constantly afraid of their power, particularly in the context of their sexuality. From Nabokov’s Lolita to any hohg-school horror movie temptress, young girls are perceived as threatening and dangerous, especially when they realize they have power and voice
Thomasin has always lived in a community that demonizes girls and women. The religious patriarchy of the early American settlements sets an atmosphere of persecution and paranoia. When problems start to arise on their settlement, Thomasin is immediately implicated. But her existence as an adolescent girl is the only “proof” of her guilt, but her parents, especially her mother, are convinced of her evil nature.
Though she is antagonized and demonized by her family, she protects them as much as she can when the real threat starts to close in. She spends most of the movie as an innocent, naïve girl, trying to fend off blows from every source. But in the end, we see her reject the expectations being thrust upon her and take ownership of her power.