The Lighthouse (2019)

March 24, 2020

Robert Eggers is a name that may not need an introduction anymore, especially among hardcore film fans. His debut, The Witch, was an excellent period piece psychological horror flick. It established him as a filmmaker unafraid to explore unconventional narratives in unique ways. The Witch is still one of my favorite horror films, so there was a lot riding on Robert Eggers to deliver on his sophomore film. The plot runs as follows: Two lighthouse keepers (Pattinson and Dafoe) try to maintain their sanity while living on a remote and mysterious New England island in the 1890s.

The Lighthouse is not a film for the undedicated or the faint of heart. It can be a bit of a tough watch at points, and shots can drag on for quite a while. It doesn't have any significant jumpscares, although it is full of shocking moments and disturbing imagery. Along with the content, it is captured in black and white and in an unconventional square frame. Both add to the feeling of detachment and oppression that the film conveys, but they may scare away conventional moviegoers. The Lighthouse's cinematography is perfect. The aspect ratio of 1.19:1 emerges the audience in the world Eggers' creates. The color also makes the work feel distance creating a purposeful disconnect between the audience and the subject. We never feel like we understand the inner workings of either protagonist, always feeling removed.

For fans of Eggers' previous work or other psychological horrors such as The Shining or The Void, this movie is perfect. It answers no questions. It takes no prisoners. It leaves you feeling uneasy, unsure what to make of what you watched. What makes The Lighthouse work so well is its complete confidence in what it is. It doesn't try to make the viewing experience easier by compromising in its atmosphere, instead, it revels in its self-contained psychotic world. Eggers' masters what existential dread is on camera, bringing the viewer into this drab, dark world. Yet, The Lighthouse is not without humor. This movie is actually incredibly funny at times, balancing fear with funny, a task not easily done. I found myself genuinely laughing my ass off at times which I did not expect whatsoever.

There are two main conflicts in The Lighthouse. There is man vs. environment; they are faced with various complications because of the storms that assail the island. This struggle against the harsh environment is important to the story as a whole, serving as a backdrop for the main conflict.

The main conflict is man vs. man. Ephraim Winslow is working under Thomas Wake, an elderly ex-captain who power-trips over the younger protagonist.

The plot is hard to follow, not because of shoddy script-writing, but due to the state of being that the protagonist finds himself in. We see the world through the eyes of Ephraim Winslow, one of two Lighthouse keepers sent to an isolated island for four weeks in order to maintain the upkeep of the lighthouse. Throughout the film, there is imagery that breaks conventional realism, and it is hard to distinguish whether it is actually happening, or merely hallucinated, especially as the film progresses, where Ephraim's mental health appears to diminish greatly. He is the epitome of an unreliable narrator, and as The Lighthouse progresses we are no longer sure what is real and what isn't. In fact, by the end of the movie I honestly had no clue which was which. We are told by Wake that Winslow attacked him while the viewer is led to believe that it was the opposite. The ending is equally ambiguous, with several theories floating that include: Winslow is suffering penance for killing his former boss, Winslow and Wake are the same people, Winslow is the titan Prometheus and Wake the god Proteus.

The Lighthouse has mastered the art of dialogue. The dialogue is excellent creating a perfect tone and bringing great character depth to both characters. Wake (Dafoe) speaks in a spot-on almost pirate-like voice while Winslow (Pattinson) speaks more akin to the working class of the '50s. Dafoe should have won best actor or best supporting actor as his performance is one of the best I've ever seen. Dafoe captures both perceptions of what the viewer sees him as, a man who's gone completely insane from isolation at sea or a power-tripping old man. Dafoe's monologue after Winslow says he hates his cooking is the best acting I've ever seen, no joke. Dafoe doesn't blink once throughout, and his faces grow more and more unnatural and petrifying. Let's not forget Pattinson, who's performance as an unstable Winslow is equally mesmerizing. The viewer has no clue what either of these two actors will do next creating a queasy viewing experience. The Lighthouse is essentially a case study of two people as Dafoe and Pattinson are the only two speaking actors in the entire movie.

I could address The Lighthouse's ambiguous ending and go over all the proposed theories mentioned above but for once I'd rather let the reader of this review discover it for themselves and come to a conclusion without my bias or explanation. The only thing I've got left to say about The Lighthouse is that I've never seen anything like it and I never will. This movie is what all movies should strive to be and is the prime example of what cinema can be.

- GL & FM