10 Horror Movies Where The Last Scene Is The Best
5. The Witch
Critics' darling The Witch is the quintessential example of the glorious pay-off typically associated with Robert Eggers' uniquely slow-burn directing style.
Set in the 1600s, the 2015 folk horror follows a Puritan family, recently banished from their settlement. The family find themselves plagued by ominous supernatural forces, emanating from the woods near the outskirts of their new farm.
By the time said forces are done, the only family member left standing is Anya-Taylor Joy's Thomasin. The picture's climactic scene sees the predatory entity behind the family's torment finally unmasked - Satan himself, taking the form of the family's billy goat, Black Phillip.
In a tone eliciting an ASMR from its first decibel, Black Phillip reveals his true form, enticing Thomasin into signing her soul over to him. The pair then walk into the woods to join a Witch's Sabbath. In particular, the sight of the naked witches chanting before levitating into the air as Thomasin joins them is an unforgettably haunting visual.
The Witch's ending is a subliminal exhibition of the workings of Eggers' twisted mind. Never mind the more subtly horrifying elements - spare a thought for Thomasin's siblings' remains bubbling away in a cauldron - the breath-taking symbolism utilized is open to multiple forms of interpretation.
Thomasin's Faustian bargain could represent liberation from the bounds of her puritanical circumstances. By the same token, the transaction could just as easily symbolize her descent into unbridled madness.
And that, is where the ineffable genius of The Witch's closing sequence lies.