The Lighthouse Review

Robert Eggers left me intrigued with his style of filmmaking after watching this.

The film is creative, bold, loud, insane and beautifully shot, all while having a stunning sound design accompanied by a chilling score. The choices made by Eggers truly made this unique and the descent into madness was different than what audiences are used to seeing. This reminded me of a Bergman film because of the use of expressionist imagery and the loud, repetitive horn that rang throughout. The cinematography was lovely in black and white and I loved the long takes of the landscapes. Eggers used close ups to his advantage and the lighting was used extremely well, he used the shadows on his characters properly and it added to their insanity.

The take away from The Lighthouse is that, Robert Pattison and Willem Dafoe are fantastic actors. Willem Dafoe looked deranged from the very beginning and he had this harsh sailor delivery that complimented Pattinson’s young, reserved and obedient freshman. Both actors had a wonderful chemistry and watching them felt like it was a trust exercise among actors. What Eggers had them do to each other and with each other was something so intimate that it made me wonder how certain scenes were even filmed. They allowed each other to be free with their characters in the scene and I think that’s the glue that holds The Lighthouse together.

The film itself just wasn’t for me but I can definitely appreciate everything they have done to make an original piece. The pacing was a bit slow and at times the dialogue was a bit dull but when the graphic imagery was edited in and the craziness peaked through, that’s when Eggers grabbed my attention. The obscurity in original pieces is something to treasure in today’s moviegoing experience and Eggers did a great job, in staying true to his vision.