Review: The Lighthouse
The Lighthouse, directed by Robert Eggers, tells the tale of a timberman named Ephraim Winslow (Robert Pattinson), a man with a dark yet mysterious past, who has been employed to tend a lighthouse with its keeper Thomas Wake (Willem Dafoe). Bad omens plague the two men and as a storm approaches the lighthouse the two must tolerate each other and survive while maintaining their own sanity.
This is director Robert Eggers’s second film, his first being 2016’s The Witch. I didn’t personally enjoy the movie, but at the very least there were a lot to appreciate about it, and it is a technically impressive debut film from the director. With his second film, Eggers manages to impress me even more. The Lighthouse is a incredibly thought-provoking film that may turn off casual film-goers, but for those up to it this is an absolutely insane joy right with great visuals and superb acting.
The two lead performances here are among the best of the year so far. Robert Pattinson gives one of the best performances I’ve seen from him thus far. The guy was able to portray such a wide array of emotion in every scene he’s in. Willem Dafoe also gives a massively entertaining performance. Both Dafoe and Pattinson work off each other beautifully; I honestly hope that both their efforts would be recognized in this upcoming awards circuit. The cinematography is unique and incredibly well shot, the use of the small aspect ratio is very well utilized, the editing is precise and helps the film accomplish its uneasy tone, and the writing is very interesting to say the least.
My only big issue with the film lie within its plot and ending. I won’t give anything away since this is a film you have to see for yourself, but it’s a very weird ending that gives the audience way too many questions, more questions than I’m personally comfortable with. Some of the sound editing is a little distracting also, and it makes some of the dialogue very hard to follow, which is not a good thing especially since the dialect from Dafoe and Pattinson makes the film hard enough to understand already. But outside of those issues there wasn’t much I’m bothered about this film compared to The Witch.
Overall this was an intense psychological head trip that I highly recommend checking out. The performances alone are enough for me to recommend to others, but the film also impresses in its technological aspect to make it one of the more memorable films to come out this year. IF this sounds like a film you would enjoy and you happen to stumble across a showing of it then feel free to see it for yourself.
Final Verdict: 9/10