The disturbing theory behind Robert Eggers movie ‘The Witch’
Robert Eggers‘ haunting debut, The Witch, has cemented itself as a modern classic in horror cinema since its release in 2015. Set in the 17th century, the film tells the horrifying tale of a Puritan family exiled to the outskirts of a dense forest, where sinister and seemingly supernatural forces torment them.
A closer look, however, reveals an intriguing and disturbing alternative theory to the malevolent and titular witch of the woods: could the chilling events be explained by the family experiencing a communal hallucination from mushrooms? Not the sort you’d find people munching on at Glastonbury Festival, but a particularly potent, virulent and devastating fungal infection known to affect crops.
The film opens with the family being banished from their village, relocating to a remote farm on the edge of a forest. Early on, we’re shown their corn crop, devastated by blight. The key to this theory lies in the blight – it could potentially be ‘ergot’, a parasitic fungus known for contaminating rye and other cereals.
So why is this important? The ergot fungus produces a substance called ergotamine, which is chemically related to the same starting material used to synthesise LSD. When consumed, it can cause a wide array of symptoms, including hallucinations, fever and muscle pain. During the Middle Ages, outbreaks of ergotism, also known as ‘St. Anthony’s Fire’, led to mass hysteria and panic.
In the context of The Witch, the contaminated crops could mean the family was inadvertently ingesting the hallucinogenic fungus, causing them to collectively descend into paranoia and hallucination. This could explain the strange and horrifying occurrences that befall the family. The evil witch, the flesh-eating crow, the Satanic billy goat – all of these supernatural elements might not be objective reality but rather a terrifying shared hallucination brought on by ergotism.
The theory gains particular traction when considering the historical accuracy that Eggers aims for in all his films – it’s practically his defining ethos. His Puritan characters’ belief in witches and supernatural forces reflects the real mindset of people in the 17th century. Ergotism outbreaks and witch hunts often coincided historically, as the hallucinations caused by the fungus led to accusations of witchcraft. The affliction was also known to cause convulsions, which was widely associated with the defenders and accusers at the infamous Salem witch trials.
The theory doesn’t entirely dispel the supernatural from The Witch; Eggers himself has said that he wanted the film to work as if the 17th-century belief in witches was real. Indeed, for those who didn’t know any better at the time, such a concrete belief is just as affecting as the real thing. However, the possibility of ergot-induced hallucinations adds an unsettling layer to the movie, raising questions about the nature of horror and fear – is the supernatural scarier than the horrors the human mind can conjure? Or perhaps, with a film so scary that it even frightened Steven King, it doesn’t matter.
