The Lighthouse

An isolated setting can play a huge part in making a horror movie effective, especially if the main character is trapped and the audience experiences that insanity with them. Director Robert Eggers already showed the terror of a superstitious family secluded in Plymouth-era New England in The Witch, and now he invites us yet again to experience cabin fever, dark myths, demonic animals, and an old dialect you can barely understand in The Lighthouse.

A timberman named Ephraim Winslow becomes the second-hand on a lighthouse, supervised by the crazy and ill-tempered Thomas Wake. During his four weeks of service, Winslow’s sanity becomes flotsam and jetsam as he finds himself in one of Wake’s dark tales.

In his sophomore film, Eggers reaffirms his talent for creating a world that unsettles the audience. In this case, he does so with black-and-white cinematography and a 4:3 aspect ratio (that’s when the screen in a square instead of a rectangle like movies usually are nowadays), looking like a silent film from the ’20s and ’30s. This makes the characters feel boxed-in and the light the tower emits as pale and enticing as the darkness is stark and oppressive.

The Lighthouse’s success also comes from how it makes the elements of its setting frightening: seagulls are flying devils, the lighthouse’s horn is a foul beast’s beckoning call, its light is a holy (or unholy) glow, the waves that surround the rock are crashing, all-consuming forces, and the small mermaid Winslow carries around and dreams about is a dark temptress. All the imagery you’d expect from a sea-bound story is on screen and in a way that will make you never want to leave dry land.

Performance-wise, Both Robert Pattinson and Willem Dafoe are given demanding roles and more than deliver. Pattinson is at the top of his game, being both unpredictable and sympathetic, given his situation. You will forget he was ever in Twilight with this film. Dafoe is my favorite actor working today, and his intimidating and darkly funny turn here was a great reminder of why.

If you’re used to horror movies having jump scares and monsters that go “boogity boogity!”, The Lighthouse won’t appeal to you. But if you appreciate a slow burn that’s all about atmosphere and strange imagery, The Lighthouse is as beckoning like a siren’s call. Just remember what happens when you follow one.