The Witch (2015)

In the $4m sleeper Sundance hit that launched Robert Eggers and Anya Taylor-Joy’s careers into the stratosphere, an isolated puritanical family sees their faith tested and gradually implodes from within after being exiled to the fringe of the Massachusetts wilderness in 17th-century New England. Gnawing paranoia and religious hysteria build to a fever pitch after the family’s newborn son suddenly disappears one day without a trace, with the parents wrongly accusing their teen daughter Thomasin (Taylor-Joy) of practicing witchcraft, all while a sinister force beyond their control lurks in the shadows.

Not only one of the most expertly crafted, well-researched and influential horror movies in recent memory but arguably the crowning jewel in Eggers’ short filmography so far, “The Witch” had genre and arthouse fans alike shrieking in delight with a bone-chilling climax for the ages that is almost impossible to shake and still lives rent-free in our minds.

Not to take anything away from his more high-profile, big-budget offerings — Eggers has undeniably honed his craft on a purely visual and technical level over the past decade — but “The Witch” is still his closest brush to perfection and the film that goes hand-in-hand more than any other in his catalog with his deep-rooted love for folklore and the occult. Overall, it’s amusing to hear the director openly admit that he can no longer bear watching the film nowadays because he sees it as too amateur — one could argue he’s struggled to achieve the same level of success again.