Folk horror with impactful and highly evocative images for a film that talks about colonial history and cursed lands.

Avery Crounse's direction manages to create excellent atmospheres and construct suggestive shots in a story where spirits are inserted vengeful, harpies, the presence of the witch, therefore horror, supernatural elements inserted in a film that talks about American history, pilgrims, the promised land where we now know what was behind it, the massacres of the native populations.

The narrative shows how the preacher at the head of the expedition, Will, feels like a divine emissary and is instead at odds with Marion who does not want the group to go beyond an area considered cursed by the locals, this does not go beyond the immersed tree in white, complete with a beautiful sequence.

The clash between the two is well rendered as is the fascination of the group of pilgrims who slowly fades towards Will.

A film that shows dream sequences, signals that Will interprets as divine, he is saved from a hanging, a woman in the group regains her sight, which initially makes Will and the group of pilgrims believe that the area is actually the promised land.
However, behind the presence of the spirits connected to nature, who observe and lurk, there is also the witch, Leah, who is in the group of pilgrims and her dream sequences and impactful scenes are excellent and well managed. There is a strong fascination for the visual imagery of the film, the scenes where Leah is the protagonist are highly suggestive with images that also recall the cinema of Raul Ruiz.
We therefore talk about the pilgrims who colonized the lands, encouraging massacres , therefore the ancient spirits who come into action to take revenge, it is the same nature, the same land that does not want, rejects the settlement of the pilgrims with Will at the head.

It is also interesting that the witch Leah takes action almost outside of everything, she is certainly not on Will's side but not even on the side of the spirits, in fact she is friends with the two girls and Fanny, it is no coincidence that she saves the girls.

Leah is not framed with dark tones but on the contrary, there is often light and, especially at the end, she is placed in an almost ethereal situation, not therefore that of a classic evil witch.

A folk horror that lets the viewer immerse herself in its images, its atmospheres and therefore in the colonial tale imbued with supernatural forces.
Scenes such as that of the boat with the chicken on top of the flag, the "snowy" tree, all Leah's dream sequences and many others will remain imprinted.

I recommend the extended version which increases both the dreamlike scope of the film but also the entire construction of the dispute between Will and Marion.