10 Horror Movie Characters Who Were SECONDS Away From Dying

In recent years, Robert Eggers has graced us with a few niche treats in the form of Dafoe/Pattinson flatulence-and-madness flick The Lighthouse (2019) and brutal Viking epic The Northman (2022). But, while all entries in this fascinating filmography are in full possession of the director's dread-inducing style, none are quite as uniquely unsettling as his debut, period folk-horror The Witch (or VVitch, if we must).

Set in 1630s New England, Anya Taylor-Joy plays Thomasin, the daughter of a Puritan family that encounters what may be the forces of darkness in the woods behind their farm. Paranoia engulfs the brood and soon they are seeing witchcraft and devilry in all the misfortunes that befall them, including the death of the other children and the supposedly malicious machinations of Black Philip, the family goat.

In a harrowing scene following the goring of her father by Black Philip, Thomasin must fight her own mother Katherine (Kate Dickie), who blames all of their woes on her. Taking Thomasin to the ground, Katherine beats her and then begins choking her with all the strength she has. When it looks like Thomasin can't hold on a second longer, she strikes with a billhook, stabbing her mother to death but saving herself in the process.