The hypnotic and hallucinatory tale of two lighthouse keepers on a remote and mysterious New England island in the 1890s.
I wasn’t a huge fan of Robert Eggers’ highly-acclaimed, 19th Century pseudo-horror flick “The Witch.” I’m all about minimalism — saying a lot with a little — but there was a vacuous hole at the center of that film. Not only did it lack any semblance of actual scares, psychological or otherwise (except maybe for that goat), it didn’t convey anything meaningful, nor did it gather enough momentum to sustain my attention with abstract rumination on the nature of good and evil.
So I wasn’t among the fans anticipating Eggers’ follow-up, “The Lighthouse” — a similarly minimalist dissection of humanity under the guise of horror. After seeing the trailer, however, and witnessing the sight of Willem Dafoe and Robert Pattinson going berserk on each other in the titular claustrophobic setting, my level of excitement spiked significantly. And the film doesn’t disappoint… depending on what you’re expecting.
If you’re expecting a Samuel Beckett-like character study, an allegorical tale of male toxicity and isolation (and how the two intertwine), a dream-like parable that takes place in an undisclosed location where more quandaries are posed than actually resolved — well, then you’re in for a treat.
Set in the 1890s (19th clearly being the filmmaker’s favorite Century), Eggers’ film contains only two characters: the old, thick-accented lighthouse keeper Thomas (Dafoe) and the young apprentice, Ephraim (Pattinson), tasked with helping with the upkeep. The two develop an odd power-play, wherein they spar (increasingly violently) during the day while drinking hard liquor and singing sailor songs merrily at night.
What is Ephraim really running from? What’s up with the mermaid (Valeriia Karaman), who appears in Ephraim’s erotic visions? Is this an actual lighthouse, or a “Lost”-like purgatory, or a dream, or an alien planet? Does it matter? What resonates are the scenes of the power struggles, Ephraim eventually refusing to be hassled by the older Thomas. Is this a metaphor for a young, somewhat lost and demented generation taking over an old, decrepit one?
Tantalizing questions, sure, and if you like to be tantalized, like I said, this film will be right up your alley. Despite a clear resolution and a psychedelic finale, things are somehow left unresolved. The lack of actual frights, languid pace and repetitive nature of its scenes may disappoint fans of more traditional horror films.
Prone to long speechifying, Dafoe rasps long-winded insults with the fervent passion of an old-time sailor, one who’s seen one too many apprentices come and go, one who’s spent one too many years shacked up in that lighthouse by the raging sea, splattered by the rain, his liver eaten by moonshine. It’s a performance for the ages, miles away removed from anything the actor’s done recently. He alone is worth the price of admission. Pattinson keeps up, if barely, letting his freak flag fly.
I kept thinking of this year’s other “descent into madness” feature, Ari Aster’s brilliant “Midsommar.” Equally surreal, it held me rapt for over two hours, its ambiguity never cloying, aggravating or condescending. Eggers skirts close to pretentiousness, but the power of his direction, performers — and particularly cinematographer Jarin Blaschke’s imagery — is enough to make this a memorably dark, intense and at times side-splittingly hilarious experience. Venture towards this light — just don’t expect salvation at the end of it.
Now available on Digital and on Blu-ray™ (plus Digital), DVD and On-Demand January 7th
