the lighthouse movie review - Aussieboyreviews
HOW DARK DOES THE ISOLATION INSANITY GET IN THE LIGHTHOUSE?
This engaging psychological thriller with excellent performances and brilliant cinematography is dark, mature and twisted. It’s not appropriate for children due to violence and sex, but The Lighthouse is a masterful tale of insanity during isolation.
Storyline
Two lighthouse keepers try to maintain their sanity whilst isolated on a remote island in 1890s New England.
Movie Images
Movie details
Director: Robert Eggers
Cast: Robert Pattinson, Willem Dafoe, Valeriia Karaman
Writer: Robert Eggers, Max Eggers
Release Date (Australia): 6 February 2020
Runtime: 109 minutes/1h 49m
Genre: Drama, Horror, Fantasy
Country: USA, Canada
Language: English
CONTENT GUIDE (WARNING: MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS)
The film contains strong sexualised fantasy themes, as well as thematic material relating to insanity during isolation.
The film contains bloody depictions of people being attacked with an axe and multiple depictions of men having fist-fights.
The film contains infrequent use of the word “f**k”, in addition to use of the words “damn”, “s**t”, “bitch” and “bastard”.
None.
The film contains a brief depiction of breast nudity and the vagina of a fantasy creature.
The film contains multiple depictions of men masturbating and brief depictions of sexual intercourse with fantasy creatures.
mpaa rating
R (for sexual content, nudity, violence, disturbing images, and some language)
Aussie boy's thoughts
Robert Eggers’ black-and-white feature effectively portraying Pattinson and Dafoe going mentally insane during isolation is incredibly strange, dark, unsettling and masterfully mind-twisting. His entire film is not something that can possibly be described through one word, as there’s so many horrifyingly psychological elements that each feel like there’s thousands of details under each one of them. More than an experience, The Lighthouse just feels like a vision.
Throughout this entire movie, talented actors Robert Pattinson and Willem Dafoe deliver such astounding performances, and they’re even better as they work together. Apart from the early filming techniques including the use of old-style ratio and black-and-white picture, another key component to making The Lighthouse feel more old-fashioned is the actors’ characters cleverly speaking like pirates, or just exactly like what you’d expect an 1800s lighthouse keeper to speak like. This movie feels exactly like its set in its time. Talking about the style of speech, the dialogue is also tremendously gripping, especially as you witness these characters descent into madness.
However, the actual execution of the exceedingly well-constructed plot is just amazing, leaving its masterful director with a solid amount of the credit. The Witch was utterly excellent, sort of highlighting what true psychological horror looks like. And thankfully, Eggers does it again as he simply portrays two men in isolation going crazy, and it’s just insanely entertaining to watch. But there’s so many additional ideas, like visions experienced by characters, and a twisted finishing, and the creepy mermaid.
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