#286: The Lighthouse

Release Date: October 18th, 2019

Format: Streaming (HBO)

Written by: Max and Robert Eggers

Directed by: Robert Eggers

3.5 Stars

Robert Eggers’ The Lighthouse is a film that proudly wears its influences on its sleeve. Set in New England at the turn of the 20th century, it’s a tale of two lighthouse attendants - “wickies” - trapped by a storm and going mad. Think The Shining meets Melville meets Waiting for Godot meets Edgar Allan Poe. 

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Shot on stark black-and-white 35mm film, in a claustrophobic squarish aspect ratio, Eggers’ aim seems clear: to trap you with the two wickies for the winter.

But wait, are there two wickies? Turns out the apprentice, Ephraim (Robert Pattinson), has been living under a stolen identity and is actually named Thomas (did he kill the real Thomas and stage it as a logging accident? Maybe.) What a coincidence it is that the older wickie is named Thomas as well (an excellent Willem Dafoe). You can see the shades of Poe in the film’s themes related to identity and unreliable narration. 

The Lighthouse is a movie that I wanted to love, but after this first viewing, instead felt more of a sense of appreciation for its technical and thematic qualities. I was also torn on Pattinson’s performance. For the first half of the movie I simply thought he was overmatched by Dafoe. Pattinson’s “Ephraim” had a shifting accent and seemed a bit undefined in contrast to Dafoe’s wily old wickie, Thomas. But maybe that was the point on the part of Pattinson and Eggers? He is, after all, a character that may not even really exist. 

In the style of late 19th century American naturalism, The Lighthouse is shallow on plot, but deep, ocean-deep, on the overpowering effects of nature and the fragility of the human psyche.