Review of The Lighthouse (2019) by Moviemitch96 — 24 Oct 2019

This was...a very interesting film to say the least. It starts out basic enough. Two lighthouse keepers (Willem Dafoe and Robert Pattinson) are stranded on an island together some time in the 1800s during a storm and are in guard of the lighthouse there.

Soon enough, mistrust, hallucinations, madness, and drunken antics ensue between the two men. There were a lot of things I highly admired about this film. For starters, it was given a period-appropriate feel, as it employed the use of a boxy 1.

19:1 aspect ratio and was filmed in black and white. Furthermore, this helped the mood and atmosphere feel all the more tense and mysterious. Dafoe and Pattinson only add further to this by keeping us guessing with their mysterious and intriguing, sometimes even humorous performances (Dafoe in particular was a hoot to watch as he hams it up playing a salty seaman.

) Storywise, it's a little scattershot at times, but it mostly works on this film due to its mysterious nature, which allows for several crazy scenes and hallucinations to occur throughout the film, along with quite an ending that's going to keep me pondering what I witnessed for quite some time.

Overall, this is a pretty stellar and well-acted film with several interesting elements and great cinematography that all add up to a one-of-a-kind viewing experience (and undoubtedly a vast improvement over director Robert Eggers' godawful overrated 'The Witch'.