The Lighthouse

After The Witch, Robert Eggers directs another period and psychologically challenging piece, this time in black and white and square format, making it feel like it was made in 1910. that initially repulsed me, but eventually I found myself immersed in the plot and enjoying the nightmare driven to madness. Both Willem Dafoe and Robert Pattinson give great performances, the dialogue is impressive, the atmosphere thickens and there are a few disturbing scenes (a seagull being bludgeoned to death, a live burial, masturbation over a mermaid and the final scene is very raw). Here I can understand 10 stars and 0, so it depends on you, but I was not bored. 7/10. (08/01/2020)

This is a beautifully filmed black and white movie in a 1.19:1 square format which is evocative of a different time, as if the hypnotic movie The Lighthouse was created outside of all time and space. Willem Dafoe and Robert Pattinson give magnificent performances, and they compete to outperform each other in who portrays the most manic version of a madman. Figuring out the symbolism of the scenes, and the point of certain moments in the plot, offers up all sorts of parallels extending back to ancient times, however, I do not want to give out any spoilers, The Lighthouse is definitely a movie that everyone has to interpret in their own way. It is a very well-made art-house horror movie, which makes you completely believe the loneliness and hopelessness is real, so I was still waiting for some element from Robert Eggers, which would completely knock me off my feet while watching his movie, which did not happen. Anyhow, I still acknowledge his great directing skills and unique vision, and I will be very interested in his future directorial work. I heartily recommend seeing The Lighthouse on the big screen and, if possible, with very well-translated subtitles. [Sitges 2019] (06/10/2019)

Proteus and Prometheus in the shadow of Poe and his Maelstroms, gradually pulling in those with demons in their souls? Or the pages of Melville, Stevenson, Lovecraft, Beckett, and Pinter, drenched in salty sea foam? Or, as the authors of the "weird tale" themselves claim, a story that Freud and Jung would furiously munch popcorn over? Perhaps it’s just two lighthouse keepers with cabin fever, alternating between masculine and feminine roles, getting drunk on honey and turpentine, and masturbating over the magic of the Fresnel lens? Who knows what we actually witnessed. After all, 130 years have passed, and the maritime message from New England has been handed down so many times that the truth now only barely intersects with a good story. It’s striking, among other things, in how the protagonists achieve extreme physical expression through different acting methods (such as Pattinson’s masturbation over mermaids and sea fruits, or Dafoe’s curse with bulging eyes that leaves no doubt about his culinary skills). In any case, it’s a solid splash of a film, with its genre ambiguity adding to its charm. (04/09/2024)

In its reconstruction of 19th-century life and visual style of old films, The Lighthouse is an unprecedented curiosity made with great care and, in one view, makes perhaps as much sense (and is thus as carelessly blind) as a drunken sailor who has read Moby Dick and a few paragraphs of Greek mythology (particularly the story of Prometheus) and psychoanalysis (you reach the id only after pacification of the controlling superego). The plot stands on water, the relationship between the two men on alcohol. Instead of drama or any character development, there is only the building of an atmosphere which, in the end, leads to nowhere and serves no purpose; it is not legitimised by any unifying theme to which the film would adhere. It simply just is. The vagueness, eccentricity and signs of cognisance of the film’s pulpiness give the impression of being an intentional act on the part of the screenwriter, an attempt to sell a simple, self-regarding horror story to dramaturgs of A-list festivals. When everyone finds something in a film, that does not necessarily mean that there is actually something to be found in it. Due to the degree to which it depends on its two actors and sound effects, I would rather see The Lighthouse in the form of an absurdist stage play in which the riveting acting performances could overcome the terrible repetitiveness, predictableness and utter lack of flow. 55% (03/01/2020)

The Lighthouse is undoubtedly a remarkable experience. A film composed of black and white shots in the classic aspect ratio, full of magical realism turning into naturalism. Even its language is different, and the script is inspired by the language of real 19th-century sailors and the unfinished short story by E. A. Poe. The result is certainly worthy of attention, but it is open to debate whether pure naturalism would be a more appropriate form. (19/03/2022)