Why would she become one of them though?

I agree it was a strange choice and felt jarringly inconsistent with Thomasin's established character. By the time she killed her mother, I'd resigned myself to a bitter conclusion. I expected her to starve to death, be gored by a goat, or perhaps make her way back to the village only to be stoned to death as a suspected (but not actual) witch.

I did not expect the film to offer Thomasin an implied choice between 1) a painful, terrifying death that could preserve her chance at an eternity in heaven, and 2) a murderous existence with some pretty frocks and butter that would definitely lead to an eternity boiling in netherworld lava--then have her choose the latter. Only an idiot would choose option #2.

A Puritan like Thomasin would have expected to be tested by the devil and to endure frequent suffering. She would have felt she deserved no better than this even while recognizing it was painful and cruel. Life was not a merry place of blessings in Puritanical thought. The notion that she might rebel against such a system is anachronistic and completely at odds with the Puritan worldview. Even if you ignore this cultural reality, Thomasin was shown to be quite fond of her young brother. She knew the witches and devil were responsible for his torture and death. It makes no sense she would reward those same entities by signing the devil's book.

The ending ruined the movie for me. I cared for Thomasin and respected her efforts throughout the film. Now I'll readily agree the ending was provocative, shocking and a great cinematic spectacle. And perhaps the audience was intended to revel in Thomasin's decision because she had suffered so long and so unfairly throughout the film and now, look, she gets to fly! And, yippee, later there will be butter! But all I could see was that she had just suffered the final, most brutal and humiliating defeat of all. Thomasin had appeared resourceful and caring, but the film ultimately twisted her into an evil fool who would soon enough be heading to an afterlife of eternal, intolerable pain.

I say this as a person who 100% does NOT believe in hell, demons, or anything of the sort. I believe the Puritans were just about as wrong, wrong, wrong-ity wrong as wrong can get when it comes to spiritual beliefs. But in this movie, they are presented as right, so within this story's world, Thomasin's decision left her appallingly doomed.

Now you can try to excuse the film's end by saying the director was attempting to mimic cautionary fairy tales, but this film does not come close to fulfilling the requirements of that genre. Fairy tales use exaggeration and heightened realities. In such works, characters aren't richly developed, they are simply props that allow the morally instructive (or perhaps merely amusing) plot to unfold. If fairy tale characters have personalities, they have one or two traits at most. This film very specifically created an atmosphere of decaying, mundane realism and featured complex characters with nuanced motivations. This does not work as a fairy tale. Furthermore, fairy tales nearly always save the most punitive end for the character who acted in greatest violation of cultural norms and beliefs. In The VVitch, that is the father, not Thomasin. He got off lightly when you compare his fate to Thomasin's.

No, this film simply doesn't fit the fairy tale mode. Instead, it presents complex Puritan characters in a realistic setting and pits them against witches and a devil that the movie shows to be real, not imaginary delusions brought on by malnutrition, stress and ergot fungus. And then it makes the likable, compassionate protagonist choose an alliance with the devil that will inevitably send her to hell.

Sorry this is such a long rant. I loved the first 7/8ths of this movie so much that it was pretty crushing to see such an out-of-character ending. It took the movie from an 8 to a 5.5 for me. I'm happy for those who enjoyed it, but… damn. Literally.

tldr: It violates Thomasin's established Puritan character for her to choose damnation and butter over death and a continued chance at salvation. And it ticked me off. Thbbft!

I have two reasons that I believe:

1. She had no one else. They were banished by the village (and even if she returned they would execute her for murder if not witchcraft) and she couldn't get to England alone.

2. Her christian god had failed her. The dad repented and begged for the souls of his children, but was still killed and his kids still dragged, we assume, kicking and screaming to hell.

What choice does she really have? Either become a witch or starve to death or eventually be murdered by them.

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It felt random at first, but after thinking some more, the ending made sense. Think of her circumstances.

Her family is dead. Even when they were alive, she was gonna be dumped to another family anyway. She felt unloved by the mother and saw the hypocrisy and pride of her father, despite their religiosity. She needs to survive, and she turns to Black Phillip to see what he can offer her.

She also missed having comforts and luxuries. When she talked about England, she missed the beauty and glass. The devil tempted her with the promise of savory food, pretty dresses, and “to live deliciously.” The devil managed to tempt her, and it wasn’t difficult given the awful circumstances and unfair persecution she endured.

Lastly, the devil actually responds to her. He responds to her first “summoning,” while praying to God throughout the whole movie did not help her. In an early scene, she’s begging for God to save her, make her better and not have sin in her heart. She watches her family constant break down in prayer, such as when her father, near the end of the movie, is weeping on his knees and literally begging God to spare his children. The devil, on the other hand, actually responds to Thomasin. He gets her to sign the book and she lets him “guide her hand.”

Actually, it makes perfect sense. Although she was truly horrified at what befell her family, consider that in the end, she is a young girl alone in the wilderness. At this point she can either 1) starve on a farm she can't work by herself, 2) probably get lost and starve trying to go back to the commonwealth on foot, or 3) even if she makes it to the commonwealth, by some miracle, probably get executed for a witch by the people there when they find out what happened.

Also consider what has transpired from her perspective: she was the last to leave the church her father left, and is the only one to look back. We see her praying devoutly, genuinely seeking to have her doubts swept away, and her faith in God and that she will go to heaven restored. And while she begs for God's mercy and grace, her family turns on her, her younger siblings bore false witness against her, her father let her take the blame for stealing a silver cup he took and sold, and her mother turned on her rage and hatred, blaming her wrongly for Caleb's death. She prayed for God's help without effect, but saw Satan's power work to devastating effect, leaving her alone with literally no where to turn if she wants to live.

As she sees it, God turned a deaf ear to all of her pleas, so... Off to the devil who shows his power, and literally lifts her up in ecstasy, instead of making her feel guilty all the time, the way the puritanical religion of her parents did.

If you look at the entire family, she was the only one who, for the most part, took the blame for every wrongdoing. She was "pure", so to speak. This made her different from the rest of her family, and in my eyes is connected to her path as a witch.