Review: THE LIGHTHOUSE is a Claustrophobic Decent Into Complete Madness
As someone who loved the horror film, The Witch, I was very much looking forward to seeing what director Robert Eggers ended up delivering in his next film The Lighthouse. The wickedly strange trailers for the film certainly sparked my interest and they prepared me for something that would be completely strange and different, but damn... The Lighthouse was off the chain and completely bonkers in all the greatest ways!
This movie is not for everyone, but if you enjoy stories that completely mess with your head and take you on a dark, surreal, nightmarish journey, then this is a film you’re going to love!
The film is screened in a 4x3 format, which not the traditional widescreen way that most films are screened for audiences they days. I thought this might be distracting at first but it enhanced the story. The film is set in the 1890s and follows two lighthouse keepers who are trying to maintain their sanity while living on a remote and mysterious New England island. Those characters are isolated, and the way the film was shown enhanced that isolation and made the viewing experience even more claustrophobic. I loved that!
This film takes you on a journey into complete and utter madness. It’s a horrific nightmare that I would never want to experience in real life. Apparently just shooting the film was a miserable experience for the actors and when you see the film, you’ll understand why.
I love that Eggers dives into the little details of his films. He did it with The Witch, and he did it again with The Lighthouse. His attention to gritty detail with both the setting and the story really made it pop with realism and stand out. There is no laziness in the production design. You can tell he put all of his efforts and money on the screen.
The movie stars Willem Dafoe and Robert Pattinson and they both ended up giving career-best performances. It’s actually quite a sight to see what these two actors accomplish in this movie. I was blown away by the insane energy and madness that they brought to their characters.
If you’ve seen the movie already, let us know what you thought of it! If you haven’t seen it and it looks like the kind of film you’d enjoy, then go check it out! If you need a reminder, check out the trailer below.
