Witch isn’t your typical witch-hunt movie; it’s much more than that. Directed by Craig Hinde and Marc Zammit, the story is set in England in 1585 and follows William, a blacksmith, and his wife, Twyla. Twyla is being hunted down because everyone in town believes she’s a witch. Judge Hopkins, a man obsessed with wiping out witchcraft and all things ungodly, leads the hunt. But here’s where it gets interesting: Twyla had a dream about a girl named Johanna murdering her parents and walking through the village holding their severed heads. The question is, why would Twyla have that dream? Then, during the court hearing, Johanna drops a bombshell by claiming Twyla is her mother even though they don’t know each other that well and both are of the same age. So, what’s the connection between Twyla and Johanna? It’s a mystery that hints at something deeper. The movie keeps you guessing—Is Twyla really a witch? And if she is, will she be able to escape with her husband, William, or will the town’s madness finish them both? Let’s find out from Witch movie explainer.
Spoilers Ahead
Why were Twyla and William locked up in jail?
There was this girl named Johanna Fletcher who did something horrifying—she was found walking around at night, covered in blood, screaming with her parents’ severed heads in her hands. The whole town was shocked, and no one believed this was just some random act. It felt too bizarre, too unnatural, so people quickly blamed witchcraft for what Johanna had done. That’s when Judge Hopkins, the town’s strict priest and judge, decided to put Johanna on trial. Everyone already knew her fate—it had to be death if witchcraft was involved. This town had a dark reputation for strange, ungodly happenings in the past, and Judge Hopkins had been fighting for years to keep things like this from happening again. He was serious about finding a solution, so he gathered a jury to deliberate Johanna’s punishment. He even went to William, the blacksmith, and asked him to serve as one of the jurymen. When William told his wife, Twyla, about it, she was terrified. She told him that she had seen it all in a dream and even heard Johanna’s screams at night. The strange part was that the incident had happened in another part of town, far from their home—there was no way Twyla could have heard anything.
Twyla grew more frightened, especially after an old man approached her and warned her not to go to the trial. He gave her a stolen key to the jail and hinted that they might need it if they got locked up. It seemed like the old man had some kind of prescient ability; otherwise, how could he know all this? But when the king’s men saw Twyla with the key, they suspected she was up to something and dragged her to the court. Just as the trial was about to end and Johanna was sentenced to be hanged for witchcraft, Johanna suddenly pointed at Twyla and called her “mother”. The court was in complete shock. Twyla and Johanna were the same age, and they barely knew each other. So why would Johanna call her mother? The whole town started believing that Twyla, Johanna, and William were all involved in witchcraft together. And just like that, all three of them—Twyla, William, and Johanna—were thrown into jail, leaving everyone wondering what the truth really was.
Who was the old man?
The twist was shocking— the old man who helped Twyla wasn’t just some random stranger. He was actually William himself, from 36 years in the past. It was crazy to think about, but it made sense. The old William had returned to save his younger self and Twyla from the jail cell using the key he had handed to her earlier as he had experienced it all in the past as well. The truth was that all these events had happened before, 36 years ago. After escaping from jail, the three of them—the two Williams and Twyla—hid in the forest, where William revealed the real story. There was a book, an ancient and dangerous one, filled with symbols and chants that acted as a gateway to the underworld. If someone had lost a loved one, the right words from this book could supposedly bring them back. But there was a catch—if the person performing the ritual made even the smallest mistake, they wouldn’t bring back the dead. Instead, they would open a door for something dark and ungodly to enter our world by using the one performing the ritual as a vessel. This had all happened before in William’s previous life. Back then, William, Twyla, and their daughter Annabelle were happy together.
William had hidden the book away as he thought it was safe. But Annabelle had found it. As Twyla grew older and fell seriously ill, Annabelle, desperate to save her mother, tried to use the book’s words to heal her. But she made a mistake, and instead of repairing her mother’s health, she accidentally summoned a demonic force from the underworld. This dark entity entered Annabelle’s soul and destroyed her body in the process. The demon now clung to Twyla and moved with her wherever she went to search for a way to regain a physical form. That was why Johanna had called Twyla her “mother.” The demonic force had latched onto Johanna by manipulating her into doing terrible things, like murdering her parents. The demon’s ultimate goal was to be reborn as Twyla’s child, reclaiming its place in a physical body. But here’s where it got even more complicated—there were infinite versions of William spread across infinite worlds. Each one of them had made mistakes, learned from them, and tried to find ways to save Twyla from the same dark fate. They could travel through time and different worlds using a special elixir, each version of William gathering wisdom from the others. In this world, Johanna had to die to stop the cycle. But in another world, a different version of William might have found a way to save her to keep her alive. By learning from the mistakes of other Williams across different timelines, there was a hope that one day, they could put an end to all of this darkness for good. Each version of William was working towards a future where Twyla, Johanna, and even Annabelle could finally be free of the curse that had haunted them for so long.
Did William and Twyla survive?
Johanna was hanged to death, but old William knew that the dark spirit wouldn’t just disappear—it would find a new body. That’s why William sold three dolls to a girl named Rose. These weren’t just any dolls—they were made with love by Twyla and Annabelle years ago, back when life was good. William believed the spirit would target Rose next, so the dolls were a way to track it. Now, you might think destroying the cursed book would solve everything, but that wasn’t the case. The book couldn’t be destroyed because it was the key to saving them all. Without it, Twyla would never be free from the demon. After Johanna’s death, the spirit latched onto Rose, who became the new vessel. Rose, under the influence of the demon, killed Judge Hopkins—the man who had spent his life trying to rid the town of evil. Both the old and new William came together to stop this curse once and for all. They brought Rose and Twyla together to perform a final ritual to free their souls. But before they could complete it, the town’s sheriff, Marshal, killed the older William. As he lay dying, he left behind a cryptic clue in the book: “Don’t save her.” It seemed like he was warning that Twyla needed to be sacrificed for the demon to be destroyed. Wherever Twyla went, the demon followed. Only her death could end it for good. The new William, unaware of this warning, managed to kill Marshal. He held Twyla’s hand, and they both drank the elixir that allowed them to jump through time. But in his haste, William burned a page of the book, missing the vital clue. It left us wondering—was this a foolish mistake, or was there still hope? But, history seemed destined to repeat itself, just like it had 36 years before. Maybe, this time, William would be more cautious, making better choices to protect Twyla without risking everything.
During Witch’s ending, it seemed like Twyla might finally be free based on what we saw. We jumped to the present day, where a girl in a library was about to be killed at gunpoint. Just as the gun fired, a woman found “the book” on a shelf and unknowingly read a verse. Miraculously, the girl who had been shot came back to life. I believe that girl was Twyla, brought back from the dead. And the woman who opened the book—perhaps she had unwittingly saved Twyla’s soul by breaking the curse for good. It looked like William all those years ago already knew that Twyla had to be killed in order to free herself. In the end, there was a glimmer of hope that Twyla finally had been free, no longer hunted by the dark force that had haunted her for so long.
