There was always something cinematic about WW Gibson’s poem Flannan Isle, which was based on supposedly true events. The three man crew of a remote lighthouse, mysteriously vanished, a Marie Celeste on dry land. The sight of three birds in the distance, suggesting some supernatural force at work; it’s an ancient touch-stone that’s simply begging for a fully-developed narrative. That didn’t happen in 2019’s risible The Vanishing/Keepers, in which Gerry Butler chewed his beard to no effect in a dull story of rivalry and mercury poisoning. As his follow-up to The Witch, writer/director Robert Eggers takes a far more daring and cinematic approach that mixes semen and sea-monsters to both comic and alarming effect.
Shot in black-and-white, and with set-ups that recall early silent and sound films, The Lighthouse might seem like a pastiche, but it plays out without a wink to the audience. Wickie Thomas Wake (Willem Dafoe) is joined by newbie Epharim Winslow (Robert Pattinson) on the remote lighthouse he maintains; the young man doesn’t share his penchant for booze and sea-shanties, but the two of them make a decent fist of holding things together. Winslow seems obsessed with fingering a figurine of a mermaid that he discovers inside the stuffing of his mattress, and the younger man’s sexual desires seem to set him up as a target for the older man’s derision.
The Witch seemed to take an eternity to get to a supernatural punch-line; The Lighthouse is more subtle in the mechanism by which it delivers chills, mainly through the dreams and hallucinations of the two men. The games are multi-layered; at times, Pattinson and Dafoe are seen doing actors exercises together, and Eggers seems to be playing on audiences awareness of the stars and the type of genre film he’s subverting. This is horror here, but it’s something more insidous than just jump-scares.
The Lighthouse is a cheeky provocation, cleverly made and making great use of two deservedly popular actors. Pattison creates something other-worldly from Winslow, while Dafoe’s monolithic monologues are something to behold in the style of Melville’s Moby Dick. The Lighthouse will have some frustrated customers; this isn’t the unveiling of a new horror talent as it is a black-comedy merchant, but Eggers’s film has a playfulness that makes it a must-see, even if there’s certain images you’ll be keen to unsee afterwards.
Caught this in its brief sojourn in the cinema. Excellent cast and it does deliver though not in the way you might expect. Pattinson superb.
I wasn’t sure he’d have what it takes post Twilight, but he’s been awesome since. Good Times, Cosmopolis, The Lighthouse, that’s some nice work for an actor whose initial leads were rather weak.
I agree with you there. I thought he was just another pretty boy. But I’ve been mightily impressed, especially with Tenet.
Saw this in the cinema and really enjoyed it. I was happy enough just with how it looked; then it turned out to have a plot as well – as in Winslow’s backstory? As a two-hander, it’s a pretty neat idea. Dafoe provides the pastiche. Pattinson provides the emotional centre. Also that scene where Winslow thinks he’s found a dead woman on the rocks? Brilliant.
Having seen Eggers still making striking, if less narratively tight ventures like The Northman, I think it made me apprecaite this more. This is an original film that draws on cinema history, but does it all within a Pinter-esque two hander. It really does have its moments.
‘The Northman’ just made me realise how much Shakespeare had improved on the original! (not the result Eggars was aiming for, I suspect)
Yup, Ur-Hamlet really doesn’t have all the bells and whistles that old Shaky added…
Nope!
Beards like that need to come back in style in the western world.
He’s Captain Highliner. Butt of too many jokes in Canada to come back here.
Ever seen a grown man naked, Billy?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=__QmUvZCNaI
Phhhttt, a real man could totally overcome that.
No one makes fun of canadians and bacon any more, right?
Oh waaaaaaaaiiiiittttttt…….
John Candy did and look what happened to him..
He’s dead, Jim….
A real man would rather die than give up his principles. John Candy liked canadian bacon so much it killed him (among other things I”m sure)
Yikes, I know he was in a film called Canadian Bacon, and that was a central plank in my theseis…
Well, if you used him as a plan, that’s one big plank!
Do you like films about gladiators?
I suspect Alex only likes gladiator films if they involve bin on bin action….
Bin on Bin action is a sub-menu on Binstagram. Who would win in a fight between celebrated bins? I’ll bet on mine, they’re organised, colour -coded, simply arranged, I think the playing card with my bins on it would be a winner.
I’ve got one.
Pix, or it didn’t happen…
Boba Fett
Bacon
Bingo
fACt!
(just covering all the bases to be safe)
I’ve lost track of what I’m providing pics of, but if it happened, there’s pics.
Beards, bins, aliens, Elvis, squirrels.
Just to name a few things….
Good looking movie that had the nice Caretaker moment, but the ending seemed like a fudge to me, along the same lines as Annihilation.
Pinter a good shout, but apocalyptic stuff often fizzles out…
‘semen and sea monsters’, not what I’d usually think to watch.
It’s what happens when you have a bosun as a pillow.
Will be laughing at that all day.
I set them up, you knock them down…
I’m doing you a public service by letting you know…
Indeed.
Is the correct answer
Been keeping this as “still want to watch” on my radar and thanks to this review I will make an effort in doing so. Mixing semen with sea monsters? Or was that a typo?
Not a typo! Beware! But enjoy!