Three film students embark on a journey to Burkittsville, Maryland, aiming to create a documentary centered around the Blair Witch legend. The ambitious director Heather Donahue leads the project alongside her dedicated cameraman Joshua Leonard and sound technician Michael C. Williams. However, their adventure turns into a nightmare when they mysteriously go missing, only for their haunting footage to be discovered a year later, buried beneath a dilapidated house that has stood for over a century.
According to local lore, the Blair Witch harks back to the late 1700s when a woman named Elly Kedward was accused of witchcraft and subsequently banished during a harsh winter. The townsfolk grew fearful of a curse when not only all of Kedward's accusers but also half of the village's children disappeared. Over the years, multiple accounts of disappearances and strange occurrences within the area follow, painting a grim picture of the witch's curse.
As the trio immerses themselves in their documentary, they interview quirky locals, including an eccentric elderly woman named Mary Brown, who asserts that she once encountered the Blair Witch embodied as a bizarre half-human beast. With newfound intrigue, they decide to explore the infamous woods where the legend is said to be rooted, capturing footage along the way.
Their first night camping takes a jovial turn, but strange noises in the night stir unease. When the team attempts to locate an old graveyard, feelings of anxiety mount as they realize they are utterly lost. Frustrations boil to the surface as arguments arise, with tensions flaring over Heather's insistence on filming every moment despite their dire situation.
When the ominous presence of the woods becomes palpable, and eerie phenomena—such as mysterious piles of rocks afoot—increase, their sense of safety is shattered. They soon find themselves haunted by chilling sounds and even more unnaturally arranged artifacts that send their fear spiraling.
As days of wandering and mounting dread progress, their group dynamic collapses under the strain of being lost, with accusations flying and survival instincts kicking in. The looming specter of the Blair Witch amplifies their paranoia as night falls once again, plunging them deep into the heart of darkness.
Desperation reaches its peak when a member of their party suddenly vanishes, leaving Heather and Mike shaken and alone, desperately searching for Josh amidst disquieting whispers and shadows.
On their final day, intense grief transforms into existential despair when Heather uncovers grim tokens tied to Josh, leading to a harrowing realization of their bleak fate. In a last attempt for redemption, Heather records a heart-wrenching confessional, expressing remorse and acknowledging her stubbornness that led them astray.
Their night culminates in a frantic chase through an eerily abandoned house, where the curse of the Blair Witch seemingly comes to fruition. The chilling end unfolds with unsettling silence as the camera, capturing Heather's final moments, is unceremoniously dropped, leaving only dark, unexplainable dread behind.
