The Witch

Trivia: The film's title is often stylized as "The VVitch" with two V's instead of a W. Director Robert Eggers stated that he saw this spelling of the word used in texts about witchcraft from the period the film is set, and thus adopted it for the film's title-card and marketing.

TedStixon

Trivia: Black Phillip, the goat, was supposed to appear in a several other scenes. But the goat was so poorly behaved on-set, his role in the film was drastically stripped down. The goat often either refused to do what the trainers told it, or in some ugly cases, he would randomly attack cast and crew members. Co-star Ralph Ineson even had to perform the bulk of the film under heavy painkillers after the goat slammed into his ribs and injured him.

TedStixon

Trivia: Robert Eggers often had co-star Ralph Ineson direct child actor Harvey Scrimshaw during filming. Eggers has no children of his own, and wasn't sure how to communicate with the young actor. So Eggers would describe the scene, and Ineson, a father with two children, would then reinterpret his direction in a way Scrimshaw could understand. (Often by relating it to sports, since Scrimshaw is a huge soccer fan, and literally "coaching" him like a soccer coach).

TedStixon

Trivia: It's shown that there is mold growing on the family's corn. If you look close, the mold is a specific type called ergot. Ergot poisoning can cause severe symptoms including hallucinations, irrational behavior and death. Director Robert Eggers has said this was a purposeful choice, as he left clues for different possible interpretations of the film. If audiences want to believe the supernatural elements, they can. Alternately, they could chalk it up to ergot poisoning driving the family insane.

TedStixon

Factual error: The producers took a lot of pride in using period-accurate furniture and clothing. But the family's house and furniture aren't remotely accurate for their actual situation. The table, the chairs, the house with a sleeping loft - all those took technology and manpower that they didn't have, and we've already seen that they had nothing to trade either. And they have more furniture than could have fit in that wagon.

More mistakes in The Witch

Caleb: She desires of my blood. She sends 'em upon me. They feed upon her teats, her nether parts. She sends 'em upon me.

More quotes from The Witch

Join the mailing list

Separate from membership, this is to get updates about mistakes in recent releases. Addresses are not passed on to any third party, and are used solely for direct communication from this site. You can unsubscribe at any time.

Check out the mistake & trivia books, on Kindle and in paperback.