The Witch’s storyline is a simple one. A father, mother and five children live, isolated, on New England farmland. The family’s infant son vanishes one night while under the care of his sister Thomasin (a luminous Anya Taylor-Joy), the culprit either being some hysterical, murderous action on her part or a fleetingly glimpsed witch living in the nearby forest. The mystery — and the proximity to evil — slowly causes the family to implode even as the nightmare creates a deliriously warped coming-of-age for the teenage daughter. Eschewing so many conventions of the horror genre, particularly regarding physical confrontation, The Witch is defiantly bold, excitingly conceived and thrillingly dread inducing. (Scott Macaulay)