In 1630s New England, devout English settler William stands before a Puritan tribunal, his rigid interpretation of scripture placing him at odds with the religious leaders of the settlement. The council exiles him and his family from the community, forcing them to leave the walled safety of the village and strike out into the untamed wilderness. William, his wife Katherine, their teenage daughter Thomasin, preteen son Caleb, and young twins Mercy and Jonas travel by cart to a remote stretch of land near the edge of a dense, looming forest. There, they build a small homestead, hoping to carve out a life from the unforgiving land.
Not long after their exile, Katherine gives birth to their fifth child, an infant son named Samuel. One day, while Thomasin plays a simple game of peek-a-boo with him near the woods, he vanishes in the blink of an eye. Panic spreads through the family as they desperately search for him, but Samuel is gone. Unbeknownst to them, deep in the forest, an old witch has taken the infant. In the shadows of her dwelling, she grinds his tiny body into a paste, using his remains to create a supernatural ointment. She smears it across her skin, completing an arcane ritual that grants her the power to fly.
Katherine is devastated by Samuel’s disappearance. She spends her days weeping, lost in endless prayer. William, determined to provide for his family, ventures into the forest with Caleb to hunt for food. Caleb, still shaken by Samuel’s loss, worries about his younger brother’s soul—was he baptized before his death? William avoids answering directly but eventually confesses a different secret: he has traded Katherine’s prized silver cup for hunting supplies, knowing they would not survive without them.
Back at the farm, the twins, Mercy and Jonas, entertain themselves by playing with the family’s black billy goat, whom they call Black Phillip. They claim the goat whispers to them, a disturbing notion that Thomasin dismisses as childish nonsense. Meanwhile, Katherine grows resentful, wrongly blaming Thomasin for misplacing the silver cup and still holding her responsible for Samuel’s disappearance. As tensions mount, the children overhear their parents whispering in the dark. William, believing their situation has become dire, suggests sending Thomasin away to serve another household.
The next morning, determined to prove her usefulness, Thomasin accompanies Caleb into the forest to check the family’s traps. However, their outing takes a dark turn when their dog, Fowler, spots an unusual hare and gives chase. The hare’s presence unnerves their horse, which rears up and throws Thomasin to the ground, knocking her unconscious. Caleb, now alone, watches in horror as Fowler’s cries are silenced in the underbrush. He pushes deeper into the forest, where he stumbles upon the animal’s disemboweled body. As he wanders further, he comes across a small, decrepit hut. A beautiful woman emerges, dressed in red, her gaze hypnotic. She beckons him closer. Entranced, Caleb steps forward, and she presses her lips to his in a slow, lingering kiss. As their mouths meet, her hand—now visibly aged and gnarled—grabs the back of his head. The scene fades to black.
Thomasin regains consciousness and, after wandering through the trees, is guided home by the sound of William’s voice. Katherine immediately berates her for venturing into the woods and losing Caleb, but the argument is interrupted when William finally confesses to trading the silver cup, shifting Katherine’s anger toward him instead.
That night, Caleb reappears, naked, feverish, and delirious. The family rushes to his aid, but his condition worsens by the hour. He cries out in pain, convulsing violently. When his mouth opens, a whole apple emerges from his throat, red and pristine as though freshly plucked. Katherine, now convinced that her son has been bewitched, kneels beside him in prayer. In the final moments of his suffering, Caleb experiences a religious euphoria, proclaiming his love for Christ before taking his last breath.
The twins, Mercy and Jonas, panic. In their terror, they accuse Thomasin of witchcraft, claiming she has cursed Caleb. Thomasin, in turn, counters that it is the twins who are in league with the devil, insisting they have spoken with Black Phillip. The family’s fragile unity shatters under suspicion. Enraged and desperate, William takes drastic action, locking Thomasin, Mercy, and Jonas inside the goat pen for the night.
Hours pass. As the night deepens, a shadow moves through the farmstead. The twins awaken to a terrifying sight—the old witch, naked and hunched, hungrily drinking the blood of a nanny goat. Mercy and Jonas scream, but the sound is swallowed by the darkness. Thomasin watches in frozen horror as the witch turns toward them, grinning before lunging forward.
Inside the house, Katherine experiences a vision. Caleb and Samuel appear before her, glowing with warmth, their faces peaceful. Overcome with emotion, she takes Samuel into her arms and begins to nurse him, murmuring softly. But the vision is an illusion. In reality, she sits alone in the flickering candlelight, her gown loosened, her bare chest exposed to a large black raven perched upon her shoulder. The bird pecks relentlessly at her flesh, tearing at her body, but she does not flinch.
Dawn breaks over a scene of devastation. William steps outside to find the goat pen in ruins, its wooden beams shattered. The goats have been slaughtered, their carcasses strewn across the ground. Mercy and Jonas are gone. Thomasin lies unconscious in the dirt, blood staining her hands. Before he can react, Black Phillip charges, ramming his sharp horns into William’s abdomen. Staggering, impaled and mortally wounded, William falls into a pile of firewood. As the weight of his body presses against the splintered logs, they collapse, burying him beneath them.
Inside the house, Katherine, now fully unhinged, turns her grief into fury. She attacks Thomasin, blaming her for the family’s destruction. Thomasin fights back, clawing and grasping in desperation until she finally grabs a billhook. In an act of self-preservation, she brings the blade down on her mother, ending her life.
Silence falls over the farm. Thomasin, now truly alone, wanders toward the goat pen. She kneels beside Black Phillip and, in a hushed voice, pleads with him to speak. A moment passes. Then, in a chillingly smooth voice, the goat responds. He asks if she would like to “live deliciously.”
With no one left, nowhere to go, and no future in the world she once knew, Thomasin follows his instructions. He guides her into the woods, where she finds a coven of witches gathered around a towering bonfire. They chant and sway, their voices weaving together in an eerie melody. One by one, they begin to levitate, rising above the treetops.
Thomasin, trembling, slowly lifts her gaze to the sky. A smile creeps across her face. Then, as though weightless, she too begins to ascend, laughter spilling from her lips. The darkness of the forest swallows her, and with it, her past life vanishes.
In the depths of the wilderness, a new witch is born.
