The Lighthouse

At the 2020 Academy Awards, one of the biggest upsets from the general public was what looked like the outright dismissal of the film, The Lighthouse. Produced by the independent company, A24, which has been responsible for movies like Room, The Witch and Hereditary, The Lighthouse, despite being considered one of the best film of the year by critics and audiences, was noticeably absent at the 92nd Academy Awards, only being nominated for cinematography. Despite this, critics and audience members still hold the film in high regard and even though it is definitely a lot more abstract and weirder than arguably any other popular movie released that year, it hasn’t lost any of its pomp and circumstance because of that, but rather gained more from it. Set in 1890s England on a small, isolated island, Ephraim Winslow (played by Robert Pattinson) becomes the new ‘’wickie’’ for the island’s lighthouse. The original lighthouse keeper, Thomas Wake (played by Willem Dafoe) isn’t overly fond of Ephraim and constantly reprimands him for not doing a good enough job at looking after his prized lighthouse, resulting in some resented feelings being built up. After days go by, Ephraim starts to notice Thomas’ strange obsession with the light which is kept hidden in the peak of the tower and is confused as to why he isn’t permitted to be up there by Wake, who seems to treasure the light more than anything else in the world. With tensions rising, things get worse when the boat which was meant to take Ephraim back abandons him due to dangerous weather conditions, forcing him to remain with Thomas in solitude. Isolated, lacking food and with the only drink available being alcohol, the two slowly descent into distrustful madness and it becomes a battle of which one is the truly disturbed one and who is worthy of capturing a glimpse of the precious light. A period horror film that has been categorized without a specific type of genre, The Lighthouse is captivating and grotesque; creating an experience that could leave people unnerved as much as weirdly entranced at the same time. Being strangely beautiful yet openly filthy in more than just a visual sense, this is a film that does know how to catch your eye.

Originally based on an unfinished short story of the same name written by famous America poet, Edgar Allen Poe, director Robert Eggers and his brother Max wrote and produced this film, but they found it hard to get proper financing and backing for a movie of this ilk. After the success of their 2016 A24 horror film, The Witch, this type of film was suddenly in demand, resulting in A24 providing their blessing and support. A24’s style of filmmaking really adds a lot to this movie and gives it a distinctive style; overly harsh and uncomfortably gritty, surprisingly pretty, and clean in presentation while hiding some sinister ugliness, and a heavier focus on making reality far scarier than fiction. The idea of two people slowly being driven mad while being isolated at a lighthouse feels like something straight out of a gothic novel, and actually took some inspiration from the nineteenth century myth of an incident in Wales where two Welsh wickies (coincidentally both named Thomas) died while trapped at their secluded lighthouse. It also takes inspiration from several famous literary master of that era; including Herman Melville, H.P Lovecraft, Robert Louis Stevenson, and Sarah Orne Jewett, all of whom have dabbled in the fearfulness of what goes unseen underneath a seemingly normal situation. Their work influenced the dialect, the atmosphere, visuals and even pacing of the film, as it has a much slower, methodical, even stage play like feel to it as it slowly pushes itself forward towards the inevitable breaking point that everyone can predict coming, but how or why it will come about. It’s a movie that really enjoys making its audience uncomfortable and on-edge, like it’s trying to replicate various old-fashion gothic films of the time period through its atmosphere, tone, dialogue, morally grey characters and simplistic framework, yet still make it feel like a modern A24 movie with conflicting styles, presentation, themes and genres (this movie isn’t exactly horror, a thriller or even a period piece, it is its own unique mixture). It thrives on being vague and confusing to its audience, but in a way that’s enjoyable to dissect and speculate on what is real and what is just made-up madness rather than something that just feels like a mad house which only exists to confuse and annoy people. While the movie could have used a touch of clarification on certain set-up elements (mainly in regards the lead characters), the rest of the movie’s weirdness is intentionally vague to keep the audience in this ill feeling of never being in the right place up until the final moments of the film.

A movie like this is really going to be reliant on its lead characters, as the film is really just an entire running time of nothing but them and all these strange occurrences and if they don’t grab you, it won’t work on a suspenseful or engaging level. Thankfully, both actors do a really good job at balancing that fine line of barely holding onto sanity, to flat-out psychotic insanity. Willem Dafoe’s dedication to playing this almost parody of the grizzled sea-obsessed captain Ahab-type role is bucket loads of fun when it doesn’t feel incredibly commanding and tense. It’s a role that requires a specific type of speech and phrasing that would normally feel corny and hard to understand, but its Dafoe’s ability to make him understandable and flawed that really pulls it through and creates a character that truly feels almost unreal in many ways and almost like a ghost from an age-old past (which could be more truthful than expected in some interpretations). Robert Pattinson arguably has a tougher job as his role is more of a slow descent into a rabid frenzy, which gives him a lot more time to show off this dive into craziness in a very passionate and aggressive manner. Despite his shaky start to acting with movies like Twilight presenting him with a very one-note image, Pattinson has proven to be a pretty good talent when given the opportunity, and in this picture, he’s really allowed to explore a character that is arguably even more demented and corrupt than Dafoe’s, creating a fantastic situation around the halfway point of the film where it’s unclear which one is truly the one who’s crazy; was it always Dafoe or was Pattinson projecting his actions onto him, how much is his own actions and how much is fragments of a shattered memory, is Dafoe even real or a construct of his own twisted psyche, etc. All these questions are really fun to speculate on and it keeps the audience gripped the entire time.

For a movie that is going to have a unique visual aspect to it (changing the color, a different aspect ratio, all in one shot, etc), it helps to have an actual point as to why it’s being done as opposed to just wanting an excuse to be stylish and unique. The film’s usage of a black and white filter and a smaller aspect ratio really helps accentuate the movie’s atmosphere, time period and style, and does a great job at elevating elements that would otherwise not be as striking. These filmmaking qualities already call back to the appropriate era in which this is supposed to be taking place in, which gives it a more time-appropriate feel, but the black and white allows the shadow work and lighting to feel really purposeful and again adds to the gothic angle this film really seems to be diving into. The harsh blackness feels encompassing during the night-time and the black bar barrier surrounding the film due to the encroached aspect ratio really closes the audience in whenever its nighttime, it feels claustrophobic, and you eventually even forget it’s there. This also makes any showcases of light a lot more striking and off-putting as the day feels extra harsh, grainy, and dirty, like its searing in a way that feels uncomfortable which is truly impressive to accomplish in a situation where you’d normally associate light and dark with very obvious feelings. Even with this idea in mind, the light from the lighthouse feels especially important and grand as it’s the strongest source of light in the film and how that is used as a temptation for the characters as well as how it pays off in the final moments of the film is simultaneously unremarkable yet perfectly fitting. The cinematography by Jarin Blaschke is wonderful at making something mundane and even disgusting look so immaculate and stylized, it keeps the camera steady and composed even when things are spiralling out of control to make the mood extra off-putting, and it allows the audience to get a nice clean view of everything that’s happening to these two people. It can range from straightforward angles to Hitchcock-ian levels of quality, and both are done very well. The music composed by Mark Corven is also expertly fitted with the style, tone, and atmosphere of the movie to create something enriching and haunting, yet repetitive and maddening. It’s a wonderfully atmospheric piece that doesn’t offer a lot of variety but makes up for it in usage.

The Lighthouse is definitely not a film that will appeal to most casual filmgoers, which is a statement that rings true for most of A24’s library. It can be very weird, abstract in terms of linear time and physical reality and the subjects it tackles can be very disturbing and even uncomfortably real and dirty. It isn’t a typical horror film mainly because it doesn’t really have anything that outwardly scary in it, rather it creates this tense atmosphere that feels unsafe and mysterious, but this all leads into a fantastic gripping experience with expertly crafted visuals and sounds, a well detailed backstory for the environment and for its leads, and two great actors that really capture what it’s like to have your feasible sense of self crushed by cold insanity. Whether or not you think it deserved more praise and nominations, it’s definitely left its mark on those that have seen it and will stay as that uniquely dark, yet weirdly great looking oddball film.