This week we are reviewing Robert Eggers' The Lighthouse. It's a descent into madness that doesn't hold your hand. The performances of Willem Defoe and Robert Pattinson are worth the price of admission, but everything related to the production design, sound, and script are all of the highest caliber.

Big thanks to Dustin Goebel (@dgoebel00 on instagram) for the original artwork

In his sophomore film, Robert Eggers follows up The Witch with a romcom set in Nova Scotia. Willem Defoe plays an experienced sailor, and Robert Pattinson plays his young and supple protege. In this will they won’t they romantic drama, they fight happiness every step of the way, until it finally wears them down. 

Poster for The Lighthouse

Here is the trailer.

https://youtu.be/Hyag7lR8CPA

The Lighthouse Trailer

Synopsis for The Lighthouse (2019)

Actually, The Lighthouse is about two lighthouse keepers, or wickies, that are stationed in a remote lighthouse in New England. Willem Defoe plays Thomas Wake, an elderly salty seaman, and Robert Pattinson plays Ephraim Winslow a young man trying out a new career. As Wake domineers over Winslow, forcing him to do all the hard labor up-keeping the tattered lighthouse, he spends the coveted watch basking naked in the glow of the lamp. Winslow wants some of that sweet naked basking action, and he slowly descend into madness.

Review of The Lighthouse

If you are going into this film expecting another The Witch, you are going to be disappointed. This is a much more surreal and confusing film.  However, what this movie does share with Eggers’ first film is a meticulously historically accurate film with a unique and striking visual style. While I might not have liked this film as much as I thought I would, I can’t help but have respect for Eggers’ ambitious artistic vision. Pattinson and Defoe are perfect casting for this film, and they both give amazing performances. There are some really great scenes and monologues in this film. General audiences will probably be turned off by a lot of the choices that were made in terms of narrative and visual style, but film students will be creaming over this movie for years to come.

Watch The LighthouseOn AmazonClick Here to Watch

Is The Lighthouse a Horror Movie?

Is this a horror movie? Kind of. It has enough horror elements to qualify it way more than a movie like Happy Death Day 2U. Most of the focus is on the tension between the two main characters, and the mental instability caused by seclusion and alcoholism. That being said, there are Lovecraftian and folkloric horror elements.

Visual Style

The most striking aspect of the visuals of the film is it's aspect. RATIO, that is. It is shot in 1.19:1 aspect ratio, which is basically square. It evokes a kind of claustrophobia and intimacy that is rare in a theatrical experience.

This is not to say that we are unfamiliar with this framing in modern times. Instagram, is one of the most popular social media platforms for digesting imagery.

It was shot on 35mm black and white Double-X 5222 film using a Panavision Millennium XL2 camera with vintage Baltar lenses from the early 20th century.

The film stock required a much brighter light source to get exposure, so they had to use about 15 to 20 times more light on set to actually see anything on film. Because of this, the crew would often wear sunglasses.

Sound Design

The sound design on this film is great. Along with the anachronistic visual style, the sound on this film is mixed in mono. This doesn't hinder the film in any noticable manner.

The music by Mark Korven stays out of the way, and mostly features wind instruments in an aleatoric style.

The one sound that will stick with you is the sound of the foghorn. According to IMDB trivia, Damian Volpe, the sound designer on the film, consulted with J.J. Jamieson, a YouTuber that does tutorials on operating and maintaining foghorns.