Based upon the play by Arthur Miller, this is a retelling of the events leading up to and surrounding the Salem Witch trials.
The head of the local congregation (Jeffrey Jones) is worried about his position and when he finds his daughter and niece (Winona Ryder) dancing about a fire in the woods with some other girls he becomes concerned. When his daughter and another young girl fall into a com like state he becomes it must be the work of the devil and calls in an expert.
From here it escalates as the girls led by Ryder admit to having fallen under the devil's sway and immediately repent but not without dragging in the names of others they were involved. More and more people are implicated as the motives become personal and the wife (Joan Allen) of the man (Daniel Day Lewis) who Ryder's character lusts after is accused.
Occasional missteps and at times overly melodramatic, but satisfying for the most part because of the superb cast
The head of the local congregation (Jeffrey Jones) is worried about his position and when he finds his daughter and niece (Winona Ryder) dancing about a fire in the woods with some other girls he becomes concerned. When his daughter and another young girl fall into a com like state he becomes it must be the work of the devil and calls in an expert.
From here it escalates as the girls led by Ryder admit to having fallen under the devil's sway and immediately repent but not without dragging in the names of others they were involved. More and more people are implicated as the motives become personal and the wife (Joan Allen) of the man (Daniel Day Lewis) who Ryder's character lusts after is accused.
Occasional missteps and at times overly melodramatic, but satisfying for the most part because of the superb cast