The Lighthouse
THE LIGHTHOUSE (Robert Pattinson, Willem Dafoe) - A24
Robert Eggers returns to the mysticism of horror after his directorial debut with The VVitch in 2015 with the equally as enigmatic and mysterious The Lighthouse that boasted quite the stir when it debuted at the Cannes film festival in the directors fortnight.
The Lighthouse is a film steeped in a mysterious gravitas, both concerning the release and contextual manner of what the film concerns. Boasting the talents of solely Robert Pattinson and Willem Dafoe for the entirety of the films running time and filmed on the unusual aspect ratio of 1.19:1 exclusively on monochrome film, Eggers‘s sophomore effort offers a visually and physically intimate setting but unleashes a tremendous amount of psychological weight to the proceedings.
There are only a few aspects of this feature that are definitively presented and, therefore, remotely answered for the pleasure of the audience. Much, if not ninety percent, of the plot is unanswerable enigmatic flavouring; it will work wonders for some and be utterly inaccessible for others, with a strong emphasis on the latter. It is not dull or even dire, in fact, it is undeniably attractive in how it lures its viewer in without an inch of exposition or explanation. That being said, its this attribute of a McGuffin that swallows the film up throughout and somewhat drowns both the entertainment value and experience of seeing the two electric performances of Pattinson and Dafoe converge.
What made Eggers's The VVitch so unique and invigorating is both the restraint within the genre and exceptional dive into the intimacy of character depth. Both are nowhere to be found in The Lighthouse. This will perhaps make it stand outside of the norm but there is a clear and distinct instruction to devoid the film of any or all entity that curated The VVitch. In doing so, The Lighthouse evokes a sense of not deconstructing expectations per se but instead provoke the sentiment of being avant-garde for the sake of those very expectations. Doing so ultimately mocks its audience for its time and inclination to see what Eggers would do next, with a resulting film that is both nowhere as near as smart as it perceives to be or as evocative as it may wish.
THE LIGHTHOUSE (Robert Pattinson, Willem Dafoe) - A24
Thankfully the material at hand, by writer-director Eggers as well as co-writer and brother Max Eggers, has laid out a spectacularly all-engulfing mastermind of a screenplay. One that tonally bombards all senses and emotions with each second it is so blissfully conveyed by Pattinson and Dafoe. Each actor is working on their own separate and highly unique level of curating and conveying their respective characters to a degree of imaginative glee. Defoe in particularly is untouchable as Thomas Wake, a character so mesmerising and affordably chewy on the scenery that both lightens up the picture and then drowns it in a proceeding altercation of nastiness.
Pattinson takes a step back to the proceeding madness — for the time being — as his quintessential stoic embodiment of character Ephraim Winslow. It takes some time for the actor to craft something worthy of intrigue, especially under the wing of Defoe. Nonetheless, as the film proceeds, Pattinson lights the rug on fire beneath him and showcases a mammoth of emotional depth and rage that strikes like lightning in a bottle.
The jarring cinematography and production design by Jarin Blaschke and Craig Lathrop, respectively, are outstanding throughout. A Silent Hill-esque aesthetic that is full of torment and grittiness that adds a tremendous deal of character and life to this enigmatic tale. Even with tremendous visuals and performances, the end result of The Lighthouse, unfortunately, still remains a stepdown for Eggers, who provides something here that fails to dig deep or fully comprehend its own definition — if it even has one. If the end goal was to create something undividedly perplexing with an inquisitive tone in the same mindset as Ben Wheatley's A Field In England, then Eggers has all but failed in his quest.
The Lighthouse is released January 31, 2020.
