The Lighthouse (2019)

MOVIE DETAILS • Name: The Lighthouse • Year: 2019 • Country: Canada, USA • Director: Robert Eggers • Main cast: Willem Dafoe, Robert Pattinson, Valeriia Karaman • Runtime: 109 minutes • Production company: A24, New Regency Pictures, RT Features • TRAILER

Robert Eggers has done it again. If with The Witch (2015) he shocked the horror scene and left a wide-open the gate for a series of new filmmakers exploring stories filled with paganism and satanism, his next movie was expected to be another dark tale to leave no one indifferent.

As with his debut feature film, Eggers brings a story where different interpretations are easy. The madness displayed by the two main and almost only characters in this film is the key for the filmmaker to develop a one hundred minutes of descent to hell. And he uses all the tools in his hands to make the trip the most horrifying as possible.

Filmed in 35mm black and white, this gave a delicious raw and ancient feeling to the images. Visually, the movie is all lights and shadows. Every frame is a scary picture. The sound treatment is impressive, the sounds produced by the waves hitting the rocks, the weather punishing the house, the beacon of the lighthouse serving as rudimentary GPS for the sea travelers… everything has its little room, everything construct the soundtrack as if it was another character. Because the movie is candy for all the senses.

With an environment like that, it is impossible the actors can miss. But, then, you put on the screen 2 guys like Willem Dafoe and Robert Pattinson. Two different acting methods, the generational gap, the master and the newcomer. And the conflict explodes. Two great performances, especially a Willem Dafoe more eccentric than what we have been accustomed to see in the last years, bringing a performance memorable.

With all the pieces on the table, Robert Eggers is like a little child playing with his Legos. His characters descend into madness and drag us all with them. What is real and what is fantasy? Who are we to trust? Are they liars or are they just losing their minds? The filmmaker flirts with the supernatural, as everybody should expect to see who is signing this film, and that just adds more gasoline to the fire. Harsh images and sounds, but it is not a painful movie to see. It is an experience, a beat-up that one takes with pleasure.

The Lighthouse (2019) could easily be the best movie of the year. And, for sure, it is a mandatory film watch. But be ready for an extreme experience, because The Lighthouse (2019) takes no prisoners. The descent to hell is served.

RATE: 8/10

IMDB URL: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt7984734