Anya Taylor-Joy’s breakout movie gave horror a different kind of female lead
Anya Taylor-Joy’s breakout role in *The Witch* recast the horror “final girl” as someone who survives by embracing the force threatening her, rather than defeating it. The 2015 film launched Taylor-Joy and director Robert Eggers into wider recognition, and its unsettling ending remains open to readings of either damnation or liberation.
Set in 1630s New England, the film follows an isolated Puritan family whose hardships and grief turn them against their eldest daughter, Thomasin. After her family makes her a scapegoat, she accepts the demonic goat Black Phillip’s offer and enters the woods. The article says *The Witch* is streaming free with adverts on Plex and is also included with Prime Video.
In short
- *The Witch* launched Anya Taylor-Joy’s film career.
- Thomasin’s survival comes through embracing evil.
- The film is free with adverts on Plex.
Steelman: both sides, in good faith
The strongest fair case each way — we don't pick a winner.
The case for
Thomasin’s choice can be read as liberation: after her family turns grief and hardship against her, she claims agency in a world that offers her no safe or fair place. The ending also gives horror a female lead whose survival does not depend on restoring the order that oppressed her, opening space for stories about power and self-determination.
The case against
The same choice can be read as damnation rather than freedom: Thomasin accepts an offer from the demonic force that has helped bring her family to ruin, so her escape may come at the cost of her moral or spiritual safety. From this perspective, the ending is unsettling precisely because it leaves open whether she has gained agency or been drawn into a different form of captivity.