Isolation is a nasty creature. It’s a concept I’m sure quite a few of you reading this are aware of in the wake of our current global pandemic. I will say that things could be worse, though, and you could be completely cut off from civilization without any friends, family, and stranded on a desolate rock in the sea. This is, of course, the premise behind the latest film from Robert Eggers, director of the critically acclaimed sleeper hit “The Witch”, a film simply known as “The Lighthouse”.
“The Lighthouse” is an excellent throwback to old-fashioned gothic horror in the vein of the more grounded works of Poe and early Lovecraft that even uses the 1.19:1 aspect ratio from the early days of film (circa the late 20s and early 30s), in addition to being shot entirely in black and white. I bring this up because of how gorgeous the film is to look at despite these self imposed limitations- there’s lots of amazing shot composition that shows how desolate and depressing the island is, along with chilling facial framing that makes the normally attractive Robert Pattinson look ghoulish and demented in quite a few scenes. The film, as stated before, is an exercise in minimalism on all fronts, only featuring two actors in the form of the aforementioned Pattinson and the always engaging Willem Dafoe as Winslow and Wake respectively.
In the late 19th century, a man named Winslow takes a job as a lighthouse wickie under the supervision of the veteran wickie and old fashioned man of the sea known as Wake on a desolate isle off the New England coast. The two start off very cold and distant from one another- Winslow is a quiet man who prefers to be lost in his work and Wake tends to throw his seniority in the position around causing further friction between him and Winslow. The month the two are supposed to spend together drags on and tensions flare and rise as it becomes clear that both Winslow and Wake are hiding secrets from one another and a vicious storm leaves them stranded on the island until further notice.
I would love to talk more about the plot, but as I said, it’s a fairly minimalist film and I can’t go further into details on the plot without major spoilers. Still, I don’t think that matters in the case of “The Lighthouse”, as its story isn’t the main draw. The film is absolutely saturated with hidden meanings, mythological allusions, and references to famous disastrous lighthouse incidents from reality that occurred during the time period. The acting is the kind where you really see just how much the craft is enhanced by body language and movement. There’s long stretches without any form of dialogue where I simply marveled at how well Robert Pattinson was able to convey his frustration over his situation entirely through his body language. Willem Dafoe is likewise engaging and hilarious as Wake- he fits the role of your classical old timey man of the sea so well that it’s hard not to burst into laughter when a frustrated Winslow calls him a “walking parody”.
I can easily say that I haven’t enjoyed watching a film in the theaters as much in recent years as I did “The Lighthouse”. The film features visually chilling cinematography, some of the most engaging performances I’ve seen in years, and a vast array of themes to dissect for all the film geeks out there who are into that. “The Lighthouse” asks a lot of its viewers, but if you love either of these actors, psychological horror, and the early days of horror films, then you owe it to yourself to see “The Lighthouse”.
(Special Thanks to Daulton for this post! Tune in to his YouTube Channel for video essays, reviews and more, coming soon: https://www.youtube.com/user/HouseMorrison/featured)
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