Wright or Wrong: The Lighthouse
Director Rober Eggers' psychological horror of isolation of those lacking mental fortitude in less enlightened times in the tasking position of maintaining a lighthouse far away from civilization features cavalcade of remarkable filmmaking techniques on display to present a very old school and mildly experimental arthouse film tackling issues of self identity and perspective in the form of the story of two lighthouse keepers that begin to lose that perspective the more that their world becomes isolated to just the two of them and their tasks on a tiny deserted land mass.
It's also far more arthouse than I had ever anticipated.
That's not an indictment on the film by any means. "The Lighthouse" demonstrates that Eggers is far from a one trick horse as far as filmmaking goes, as playing with perception as he does in the film creates a surreal atmosphere that shifts in and out of dread, humor, insight, and occasionally all of the above at once.
Additionally, the two man show between Robert Pattinson and Willem Dafoe is absolutely killer and I would dare say that Dafoe especially should probably be nominated for a supporting actor Oscar come January.
It is however, a film where, above any sense of storytelling, character, or performance, the star of the show is the filmmaking technique in use.
If you're going in to see a bottle horror movie about men succumbing to a slow burning madness that neither can identify until a reveal is made in order to get the ball rolling on some sort of grand pay off, you will leave sorely disappointed.
Show up for a thoughtful exploration of the manifestation that frustration can take along with the madness it can drive us to when we are expected to cope with it as all social norms we've been programmed to expect are stripped away, and you may find something worth mulling over be it wondering how much of what Pattinson experiences is real and what is a manifestation of his own guilt, self loathing, and trauma, or whether or not Dafoe is even a real human being as opposed to some sort of manifestation of the will of the sea and its superstitions.
As somebody who typically doesn't indulge in this sort of arthouse faire, I can ultimately identify that "The Lighthouse" is damn good at what it's trying to do, even if its goals are a tad bit too opaque and abstract for my own sensibilities.
3 out of 5
Graduating from Texas A&M University—Commerce with a bachelor's degree in News and Editorial Journalism, Jordan Wright has lived most of his adult life professionally critiquing films, from major blockbusters to indie dramas, and has no intentions of stopping.
