The Lighthouse Review

Ended up seeing this movie on a whim with a friend, and while I had been semi interested in seeing it due to its extremely high praise, was very nervous for the over hype and the fact I thought it would be a snoozefest (like Willem Dafoe has in the movie), however I was thoroughly and pleasantly surprised.

Story- Two guys are in a lighthouse in the 1800's, but it's way more interesting than you'd think. That's about all I can say because it's best to go into this movie knowing as little as possible, I hadn't even seen a trailer about it. One of the only issues I had with the movie was that I was slightly able to predict the ending, which I feel like was because the director eluded to it a tad, but it didn't take away from my enjoyment because he worked it in a slightly different way to still add a shock factor to it. The vibe that I got from this movie was a cross between the Shining and any number of Hitchcock films, but more specifically Psycho with some of the different uses of shots. It's interesting that a lot of the movie is open ended and you can get what you want from it, but at the same time it is very structured. Some would say leaving so much up to the audience is a crutch, and while I can somewhat agree, I don't believe that was the case in this movie given its meticulous nature. Also this is one of the only movies I've watched where I've ever laughed at a fart joke, so there's that.

Cinematography/Props/Editing- Starting with props, they were of course accurate. The whole movie takes place in one central location so you kind of have to nail the props and set, and they clearly did this. I'm not sure if they filmed any of it on a set, I feel they didn't but if they did I surely couldn't tell. The editing too contributed to the realistic feel to this movie, because it was pretty seamless throughout. The cinematography was interesting to me. There was one scene in the first act where it was just the two characters talking, and it was just shot-reverse shot, and with all of the other creative shots used prior I was somewhat confused why they'd just shoot a scene like this, but throughout the whole movie they use lots of different types of shots and in different dialogue exchange scenes they do vary it up which was nice. The movie of course looks visually appealing, and it was an interesting choice to use black and white. I understand why tonally and stylistically Eggers would want this movie to be in black and white, and overall I feel it was a good choice. I was thinking about it and if he had made it in color, albeit more muted, it still could've looked almost black and white, but again going back to his vision and authenticity it makes sense why he chose to just do straight up black and white.

Acting- I love when a movie can have such limited casting but manage to blow you away with a compelling narrative as if it was a full fledged ensemble movie. Willem Dafoe plays Willem Dafoe, but he does it very well. He's got that perfect kind of crazy that absolutely contributed to the tone of this movie. Plus I've done a bit of minor acting for little stuff, and I had a hard time memorizing little lines that were super simple at times, yet this man can run through entire monologue type dialogues and do it flawlessly, it's amazing. Robert Pattinson was really good in this movie too. I got young Daniel Day Lewis vibes from him, which is a tremendous compliment because that dude can act. It was partly because of the mustache, partly the way he acts in the movie. Either way, he had a pretty commandeering performance and holds the crowd just as much as Dafoe does. I also love how at times they bicker like an old married couple over the littlest things, it's hilarious, something I did not expect in a movie like this.

Directing- I was talking to my friend after the movie and I mentioned that I feel that to some, Robert Eggers' films could be taken as pretentious with some of the decisions that he decides to make in his movie, but I don't think it's in an insulting way. Except the nudity, he really loves using that in his movies. Tarantino has a mega ego, but he still crafts fantastic films, and clearly I enjoyed this movie hence all of the positivity. Eggers clearly has a vision in mind and commences it quite impressively. I read that he used an authentic camera from the 30s/40s, which creates an interesting production. It makes me wonder if they did what they've done with movies from the 70s and such and render them in 4k, because the film does look great. I'm very interested to see what he will conjure next, and if it'll be something not from 1000's of years ago.

Soundtrack/Audio- I think this may have been the standout for me, and where I would blend different genres of where this movie would fit in. The great thing about films like Halloween is that they know how to integrate eerie music into a scene where nothing is inherently scary, creating a tension that wouldn't be there otherwise. That's done to great effect in this movie (not saying it's as groundbreaking as Halloween because I hold that film in such high esteem but it is great nonetheless) whether there is something peculiar happening on the screen or not. For some reason too the sound of the lighthouse was almost calming, even when they tried to use it for just ambient noise. The sound effects were really good too, with the constant whine of the gulls and the sloshing of the water subtly in many scenes in the background.

Final Verdict- A. This is a genuine shock for me because I really wasn't a fan of The VVitch, and to be honest I'm still not, but subsequent viewings have made me appreciate it more. This movie was very interesting, and I think fans of film should go to see it to get a burst of refreshing creativity in a day of sequels and nonstop action paired with some amazing performances.

#WillemDafoe #RobertPattinson #Thriller #Horror #DarkComedy