In 1630s New England, English settler William and his family—his wife Katherine, teenage daughter Thomasin, preteen son Caleb, and young fraternal twins Mercy and Jonas—are banished from a Puritan settlement over a religious dispute. They build a farm near a large, secluded forest and Katherine bears her fifth child, Samuel. While under Thomasin's care, Samuel abruptly disappears. It is revealed that a witch has stolen and killed Samuel to use his body to make a flying ointment in order to induce transvection.