The best way to describe this movie seems limited to words like 'brilliant", "excellent" and the cliched "it's like nothing you've ever seen before" and whilst this isn't a lie, like the movie, I will leave that for you to decide as I attempt to give my lamens opinion on this spectacular movie.
I went in not knowing a thing about the director / writer, Robert Eggers or about the movie because all I saw was Pattinson, Dafoe and the word horror so I dove in and therein lay my mistake. Simply put the movie is about two men who need to maintain a lighthouse in the 1890s for 4 weeks but it's so much more than this.
First off the movie is shot entirely in black and white and if this isn't your thing then don't even bother reading on. The score, very much like the story is relentless in it's pace as we quite possibly are watching how the main characters descend into madness.
Nothing you watch can be taken literally as the time in the movie seems to vanish and we are trying to make sense of reality, fantasy and madness itself. There's so much metaphoric storytelling that you as the viewer are constantly tring to make heads or tails of what you're watching, with old sea tales blended with Greek mythology.
This movie is incredible, from the atmosphere to the actual actors lines. I'm guessing the director wants to take you on this mysterious journey and leave you guessing for years to come, much like im wondering now, about what it is you've actually seen in this movie. From mermaids, storms to even a missing head.
Dafoe once again shows off his brilliance as a versatile actor, I mean the guy's gone from movies such as Finding Nemo to Aquaman to this and that alone shows his wide-ranging acting skills and it's this style that far outweighs his counterpart, Pattinson. Both carry the story masterfully till its final breath and with the closing scene, one is left wondering, "what the hell just happened".
Watch this at your own peril as you will never have closure and perhaps that's also the appeal of the movie. The Lighthouse is not a mainstream movie and will only appeal to those who enjoy a good and solid story and filmaking at its best, it's definitely a rare find. I personally look forward to seeing more from Eggers in the future now that I know what he is capable of.
SYNOPSIS
Two lighthouse keepers try to maintain their sanity while living on a remote and mysterious New England island in the 1890s.
CAST
Willem Dafoe
Robert Pattinson
Valeriia Karaman
THE LIGHTHOUSE (2019) OFFICIAL TRAILER
Valeriia Karaman puts eerie sexy into THE LIGHTHOUSE
