The Lighthouse

Set against the icy waters of New England in the 1890s, Robert Eggers's 2019 film, The Lighthouse, is a haunting and atmospheric cinematic experience that transports viewers to a time when isolation and madness could be just as formidable as the tempests that surrounded this remote island. The film's stark, black-and-white aesthetic, reminiscent of old-fashioned cinema, immerses the audience in the suffocating reality of two men locked in a struggle with their own sanity and the unforgiving environment. The story follows Epps (played by Willem Dafoe), a stalwart and hardened lighthouse keeper with a commanding presence, and Thomas Wake (played by Robert Pattinson), his new apprentice, freshly arrived on the island. The narrative begins with Thomas, full of idealism and a rigid sense of duty, navigating the treacherous passage to the island and bringing him face to face with his new life. As the young man sets foot on the rocky shores, Epps greets him with a mixture of hostility and disdain. Upon their arrival, it becomes clear that Epps is an imposing figure, who seems almost anachronistic in his dedication to the keeper duties, observing each minor detail, scrutinizing the weather closely and performing daily routines with zealot-like fervor. Thomas, with his scrappy, naive disposition, becomes an affront to Epps' sense of decorum as he starts doubting Epps' reliability and often brusquely seeks guidance and decisions that should fall on an 'independent individual's’ shoulder. The struggles between the two accelerate rapidly, creating an infernal tension that teeters precariously between bickering colleagues to chaos of biblical proportions. The harsh conditions, such as storms, sea ice, and an environment isolated from the world, are intensified as they engage in delusional daydreams during their watch, breaking free from their duties to indulge in unwholesome excesses, and fuel bitter arguments that push their reality to the seams. Thomas' propensity to blur the line between his fantasies and reality causes him to mistake Epps for the embodiment of the devil himself. This descent into madness serves as the defining aspect of Eggers' vision of a relationship forged through loneliness. With dialogue that rages like a beast trapped inside a fortress of time and space, his characters bring every confrontation out of thin air, placing their unwavering disdain and the intoxicating menace emanating from it center stage to set in motion an abyss so hollow before him that he cannot be sure who he has become. With monitory, often incoherent outbursts from one protagonist setting sail to further destroy what's little of his past remaining, their quest becomes one of both internal catharsis and the crumbling edifices that kept their world intact. Yet through Robert Pattinson's diligent and heart-wrenching performance, Thomas comes alive as we grasp his realization that any semblance of reality hangs tantalizingly close – much like Thomas himself – ready to blur together under chaos's merciless strokes. Although disarray threatens to shatter Epps, the rigid figure succumbs to relentless dread. Trapped between the forces of reason and its irrepressible adversary, both men confront their true selves, plunging into the fathomless expanse of isolation, at the expense of their humanity. In The Lighthouse, cinematographer Jarin Blaschke transforms the island into an opaque and chthonian domain with vivid imagery radiating the tenebrosity around the men. This otherworldly world reinforces how even in the confined and sterile atmosphere – a place ruled by icy indifference, monotonous labor and eternal vigil – they are sublated further and further away from what little is left of civilization. This is a film in part about the delicate bond between men and their precarious lives as men are often relegated to the space that appears from unknown thresholds in our sanity's depths of darkness.