The Witch in the Window—my take on the movie with spoilers!

PLOT SUMMARY: Simon brings along his son Finn to help him with flipping a house that is haunted by its previous owner. 

The biggest challenge we face is trying to conquer the one thing that we are afraid of. Unfortunately, we must do it every time, every day, and in moments we least expect will occur. 

More often than not, we must put aside our fear because we have to be strong and courageous for someone else who is depending on us. 

The Witch in the Window is one movie that reminds us that no matter how scared you are, you must triumph over your fear for the sake of the people you love. 

THE WITCH IN THE WINDOW Movie Plot 

The story is about Simon who has bought a house he wants to flip over and sell for a profit. Deep inside, he is hoping to just renovate it so that he and his family can live there. Yes, Simon is separated from his wife and wishes he could have his wife Beverly back. His son Finn is moody and sulks, but helps his father with the renovations and has plenty of heart to heart talks with his father.

Fortunately, this isn't one of those movies where the door slams for no reason or eerie loud music plays to announce the arrival of a ghost. Yes, there is a ghost, but why exactly is she called a witch? Who knows. 

The ghost is a woman named Lydia whose husband and son died in the fields. She is blamed for their deaths because she isn't thought to be a good person. I wish there were details given as to why people thought that apart from the fact that she enjoyed people being scared of her. Why was she called a witch? Did someone see her practice dark arts? Was she happy when her family died? 

The interesting part is that this movie doesn't drag on with unnecessary scenes and boring dialogues. In fact, some of the dialogues are well-written, a rarity with horror films. The woman appears out of nowhere and for a second, it does creep you out seeing just the top of her head and feet as she is sitting on her favorite chair, overlooking the street. That was how her body was found, after all, staring and scaring people. 

THE WITCH IN THE WINDOW Ending Explained with Spoilers!

The father-son duo run and spend the night over at the neighbors. Simon calls up Bev and tells her he's sending back his son and not to ask him any more questions. The next day, the son is seen boarding the bus and the father drives away. Except, he leaves before the bus moves. 

This is just so you won't see the small twist coming. Now you know the son disobeys pretty much every parenting rule so you know that he must have gotten off the bus and gone back to his father. They share a heartfelt conversation only for Simon to receive a call from Bev telling him that Finn has been behaving moodily. Simon speaks to his son on the phone and realizes that the boy sitting next to him isn't his son but the woman in disguise.

Simon runs to his neighbor only to find that he can't leave the house and it was all a hallucination of him escaping. All the woman wants is for him to stay.

She wants to be free and wants him to take her place. Simon has no choice. He needs the house fixed or he loses everything. Unhappily, he agrees, knowing he will never have his family back again. 

The son doesn't bother calling his father every day to ask whether the woman made an appearance and if he needs help. His own encounter with the "witch" is conveniently forgotten.

Simon seats himself next to the woman by the window and soon enough, the neighbor finds his corpse in the chair.

More time has passed and the son still has nightmares of the woman. Along with his mother, they visit the house and decide to keep it and live in it. He finds a note from Simon telling him he will always be there around him in the house.

The movie was well-written and executed. There really isn't a dull moment and the few horror scenes and carefully interlaced with the drama so it doesn't stick out unnaturally.

A good movie to watch on a rainy afternoon.

Scare scale: 3/5

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