Robert Eggers’ The Lighthouse is a deep dive into madness created by the isolation of Willem Dafoe and Robert Pattinson.
In order to actually talk about this movie I feel that we need to go back to the year 2015. The world would be subjected to the incredible directorial debut of Robert Eggers, The Witch. Now The Lighthouse is no The Witch because it is a completely different movie breed of its own. Willem Dafoe and Robert Pattinson play these two sailors who are stuck working on this island as Dafoe maintains the lighthouse which seems to have some weird powers. Here is the catch, these two men are slowly going mad and it all happens in an incredibly crafted way.
Now I understand at first glance this probably looks like the most pretentious film of 2019 because it is filmed on 35mm black and white film along with an immersive 4:3 aspect ratio. The thing is that there are films that seem to take these types of aspects and make it more important than the story. That is definitely not the case for this picture. Throughout the film it never feels like Eggers is sacrificing style for substance.
Robert Eggers crafts an incredible piece of art that is heavily supported by two one of a kind performances. The cinematography and creation of the atmosphere amplifies the sense of uneasiness throughout the film. Eggers truly creates a one of a kind film that was not easy to watch to say the least, but leaves you with shivers down your spine until the end. Pattinson absolutely loses himself in this role and along with some disturbing visuals left me speechless. Dafoe also does an incredible job with the several monologues and line delivery.
When I continue thinking about this movie I think about the fact that Eggers really stylized this picture and made it his own by taking influences from Ingmar Bergman and Stanley Kubrick to name a few. I cannot wait to see what Eggers does next and how this shapes up at next year’s Academy Awards.
10/10 or 5/5
The Nerd Corps 