Robert Eggers does not have many films under his directing belt. However, one of those films was The Witch from 2015, a film that legitimately surprised and captivated me. It was a rather uniquely intense experience that was well-acted and well-directed. The actors were able to fill the somewhat difficult roles of Pilgrim farmers, speaking old English in a way that was both convincing and comprehensible while trying to make the whole experience intense and terrifying as they tried to survive the curse of a witch in the woods. While I’m more than happy to give the actors credit for their abilities in The Witch, I knew that the direction had a central role in how effective The Witch was at creating tension, intensity, and emotion. Eggers was on my radar immediately for someone to direct more horror films down the road. Enter, The Lighthouse from 2019.

Pros

• Able to elicit tension and intensity from the most benign and quiet moments

• Both Pattinson and Dafoe give stellar performances

• Deliberate style choices give off a David Lynch vibe that I’m really into

• Lovecraftian madness/psychological horror done in a more authentic way

Cons

• Gets pretty bizarre and the events in the end don’t really make sense; just have to go with the weirdness to enjoy it

• While horror, it’s not a scary experience

Plot & Thoughts

Ephraim Winslow (Robert Pattinson) and Thomas Wake (Willem Dafoe) are two New England lighthouse keepers who get dropped off at a lighthouse to manage and watch over the place. Wake is a veteran of the lighthouse and has been doing this kind of work for a long time, while Winslow is still a rookie. As is typical in these types of relationships, the higher-ranked veteran does the easier work of looking after the light while the young rookie does the manual labor of moving materials around, making repairs, etc. Wake is a grumpy old sailor who likes to drink, while Winslow is a pretty quiet fellow who prefers sobriety. However, he eventually begins to partake to get along better with his partner. Wake shares some superstitions, stories, and other tidbits of wisdom that serve as foreshadowing hints at what’s to come and set up the two for the inevitable madness that will overtake them both.

Speaking of madness, while it takes very little time for Winslow to start experiencing crazy visions, things take a real sour turn for both of them when Winslow commits a cardinal sin of the sea. The two end up stuck at the lighthouse for far longer than expected, and they only get crazier and crazier by the end. That’s pretty much the plot.

It’s a simple sort of story that focuses on the psychological horror of being stuck in one place, isolated from society, with only one person to keep you company and drive you insane at the same time. Having seen my share of psychological horror films, The Lighthouse is pretty par for the course in terms of what you should expect. The visions are weird. The quiet moments are filled with intensity. The tension is thick throughout the whole experience. All that being said, The Lighthouse is still its own unique experience.

To add a bit of claustrophobia to the setting, the film is presented in a 4:3 format with thick black bars on the side as opposed to the letterbox format of most modern films. It’s also in black & white, which evoked a lot of Eraserhead vibes when it came to the weirdness of the experience. If you enjoy David Lynch films, especially the weirder ones like Eraserhead, you’ll probably have a fun time with The Lighthouse. It never quite matches the Lynch level of strange and instead goes for tension.

Dafoe’s performance is definitely a highlight with his ability to spout sailor vernacular with varying ranges of intensity. I was pretty thoroughly entertained by his condemning diatribe when Winslow confessed that he didn’t care for Wake’s cooking. Pattinson also does a great job with his particular American accent, at similar ranges of intensity and sobriety. A lot of the story is told just through Pattinson being alone somewhere and reacting to something, so he’d better be good to carry such a bizarre film in such a way.

The downside to a movie like this, however, is that you really just have to go along with it to enjoy it. It does the Lovecraftian-madness horror almost too well in that you are reliant on the characters of the story to convey the horror of what they’re seeing. You know there is something disturbing and maddening that they see, but you never get the full picture. In fact, you might not get more than a glimpse. I think it’s the right way to do it, but when your horror movie is all about insanity in a very raw form, you’re not going to see much of a movie that really makes sense. When it was all over, I was satisfied with the experience, but I couldn’t help muttering: “Well, that was a movie.”

TL;DR (Conclusion)

I had a fun time watching The Lighthouse, however, I can’t easily recommend it. It’s a weird movie and a wild experience. It was a horror film that made me laugh more than anything else with its bizarre moments and with the great performances of the two stars. If you aren’t in the mood for something weird, unique, and somewhat artistic, then The Lighthouse will probably not be the horror movie for you. It’s not the strangest psychological horror movie I’ve seen, but it’s not something for the casual viewer. You have been warned.