Scary movie season typically comes around twice a year. The first time is around January, and the second time is, somewhat predictably, around Halloween. The key difference is that when I see a scary movie is coming out in October, I’m usually willing to at least give it a chance, but when I see a scary movie is being released in January, the odds are that I’d rather sailor dive down a flight of stairs than subject myself to whatever is being dumped into theaters. January is where movies, scary or otherwise, go to die. October, however, is usually the unofficial start of Oscar season.
This is my long winded way of saying that I was cautiously optimistic for director Robert Eggers’ new movie The Lighthouse, starring Robert Pattinson and Willem Dafoe.
Eggers has only made one other movie, 2015’s The Witch, which was very well-received. So although The Lighthouse likely wasn’t on the radars for the general movie-going public, critics and cinephiles alike were curious as to how Eggers’ sophomore effort would go. I’m here to say that The Lighthouse has joined an exclusive club of movies like Atomic Blonde, The Handmaiden and The Wolf of Wall Street that I’d least like to watch with my grandparents. This movie is not a “crowd pleaser” that the whole family is going to enjoy, although in no way does it try to be.
That being said, I personally really enjoyed the movie and have a lot of positive things to say on its behalf.
The first thing I have to address comes less as a comment on the actual film, but more as a piece of advice to anyone who’d actually like to see it: Get there early! The movie is in black-and-white, and is visually dark even by black-and-white standards. I walked into the theater just as the film was beginning and I could not see a thing. In fact I almost sat in the lap of some poor guy just by trying to find an empty seat! But when it comes to the actual movie, here’s what you’re in for.
The movie is set in the 1890’s and revolves around two lighthouse keepers on an island as they slowly succumb to isolation, the conflict between them, and perhaps the supernatural as they gradually go mad. Like I said, maybe not everyone’s cup of tea. However, the movie is exceptionally well acted, written, directed and paced. I’m glad to say that whether or not I found the world of the film to be pleasant or not, the movie did an excellent job of consistently keeping my attention. I was never bored, and felt totally engrossed over the 110 minute run-time.
Robert Pattinson has never been further from Twilight than here. Considering his vocal disdain for the not-so beloved franchise, his efforts in recent years to star in more independent movies like this is actually quite admirable. His performance in this movie is likely his strongest to date, showing a wide, convincing range of emotion. Although his character is hopefully quite different from what we’ll be seeing from his rendition of Bruce Wayne, this performance has made me even more excited about the fact that he’s going to be the next Batman.
Despite Pattinson’s great effort, the real scene stealer is Willem Dafoe as an almost caricature of an old sea captain. Dafoe strikes this really odd, but extremely effective balance between being near cartoonish and perfectly convincing as a sort of even crazier Ahab type character. The movie’s production company, A24, has proven to be one of the most reliable producers of good indie films with strong Oscar chances in the past few years. Although they are likely to put most of their Oscar campaigning behind The Farewell, their best chance in any major categories would be for Dafoe in Best Supporting Actor.
Tonally, the film strikes a successful and totally unique balance between tension, mystery, drama, and even humor at times. For a movie as grim and even gross as this one can be, I was pleasantly surprised by some of the fairly big laughs it got. Although I might constitute this movie as a sort of supernatural-thriller type, I wouldn’t go so far as to say that it is really scary, even if the film reaches high levels of suspense and tension. Although it can feel like a rather large homage to The Shining at times, don’t go in expecting much of a horror movie, even if some horror elements show their face throughout the movie. Much of the tension comes from not knowing if what we are being shown is real or just a figment of the character’s imagination. The movie has violence and a surplus of disturbing imagery, but never do they overtake the movie so much that they define the film as a whole.
On a technical level, The Lighthouse exceeded my expectations as well. The film has a haunting score and a very cool production design, both of which contribute greatly to the overall feel of the movie. However, the real technical standout is Jarin Blachke’s cinematography. This movie looks phenomenal, and is shot exceptionally well. It’s nice to see that Roma wasn’t some sort of outlier in proving that black and white movies can continue looking not just unique, but beautiful in an age of almost exclusively digital filming.
The Lighthouse is an exceptionally well made and entertaining movie that also happens to contain some very strange and off-putting components. If you’re a casual film fan looking for something nice, clean, and easy to watch, this isn’t for you. However, if you’re in the mood for something a little strange, substantially creepy, and certainly unique, I really think you should check this out. Just don’t say I didn’t warn you about some of the stranger, grosser parts of the movie. If you need a good reference point, maybe check out the trailer first on YouTube. I think The Lighthouse is expertly done, weird in all the right ways, and one of my favorites of the year. •
