The Lighthouse
NOTE: I originally wrote this back in Autumn of 2019 when the movie was first released but failed to publish it in a timely manner. Due to Washington State having a Shelter-in-Place order at the moment, I felt it is more than appropriate to post this review considering the quarantine in effect.
In the past, writing my reviews for movies I have seen come easy to me but lately I’ve been struggling to express my feelings about Robert Eggers latest film, The Lighthouse. This is Eggers 2nd film (the first being The Witch in 2017) and already it can be said that this movie could be considered his masterpiece.
For once I don’t want to even touch on spoiler territory for this film because of how good it is but I will go as far as saying don’t even watch the trailers as it might ruin the first half of the film for the viewer. In essence, this movie is a psychological horror but in reality it really isn’t. I know that sounds ridiculous but there really isn’t a single genre that categorizes a film like this because it blends so many themes like comedy, suspense, drama and thriller all together. What I can mention is this movie is a slow burn look into the human psyche involving two lighthouse keepers but saying anything else will only taint the movie experience going forward.
What I can confidently say is every aspect of this movie is perfect when it comes to acting, score, set design, directing, writing - everything. The film only has two characters in the story played by William Dafoe and Robert Pattison who gave performances that should at least get them Oscar nominations. Mr. Mustang and I discussed both actors in length and we believe that William Dafoe gave the performance of his career in this film with a speech dialect that was so spot on we could only assume Dafoe was secretly a lifelong lighthouse keeper from Nova Scotia this entire time. Robert Pattison’s performance was truly wonderful as well but (through no fault of his own) took me about 5 minutes into the film to see him as the character Winslow instead of Twilight vampire dude. Despite the film being 90% dialogue, it never felt boring and instead the conversations were so engaging it was like the audience was simply another seagull observing the two lighthouse keepers from a close distance.
Honestly the best thing about this film is something that is not typically mentioned in a film, the score. The music in the first 30 seconds of the film immediately sucks you into the environment and throughout the movie the score is perfectly blended into the story that will make you forget you are sitting in a theater. This movie was also expertly directed and shot using a rarely used 1.19:1 aspect ratio on 35mm film all in black and white that gave it a gritty feel to the landscape the audience was transported to.
Overall the movie is extremely straightforward and simple but the true plot of the film is experiencing how these two characters co-habituate with each other that is a refreshing take on the human psyche. Now despite this movie getting rave reviews across the board I was not surprised that it barely got nominated for any Oscars - this is a film that you have to marinade on for a few days because of how the many levels of symbolism it uses. The first emotion I experienced when leaving the theater was that of utter confusion but after mulling over the film for the next few days, the story sunk into deep like an anchor being slowly lowered into the sea. The next couple of days afterwards, my first thoughts when waking up in the morning was still about this film and me slowly recognizing subtle themes and details that were missed during the initial viewing. Even now as I write this, I can still hear the haunting yet beautiful lighthouse horn from the film echoing in my head, beckoning me to watch the movie again.
Will I see this movie again? Absolutely - perhaps two more depending on my mood.
Rating: 10/10