Written by brothers Max and Robert Eggers, ‘The Lighthouse’ is shot in black and white 35 millimeter, and takes place in the late 1800's to early 1900’s, and follows the story of two lighthouse keepers, and their simultaneous delve into insanity, that leaves this film with many unanswered questions, and open to different interpretations. 

The Lighthouse is Robert Eggers’ homage to Greek mythology, more specifically Prometheus and Proteus. While the film is up for many interpretations, the symbolism between the two is quite apparent, especially to those who know their Greek mythology. 

Robert Pattinson plays Ephraim Winslow and Willem DaFoe plays Thomas Wake. 
The two deliver absolutely amazing performances despite some dialogue that is accurate to the era, but sadly may be unclear to viewers, and viewer understanding is potentially sacrificed for the time period’s drama effectiveness.

Much of the first half of the film lacks dialogue, and the actors, especially Pattinson, do a great job of using body language, and facial expressions, to not only get the message across in that moment, but to lay foreshadowing for what’s to come in the second half of the film. 

Prometheus, the Titan of Greek lore known for stealing fire from Mount Olympus, and gifting it to humanity, was sentenced to an eternity of torture from Zeus for his hubris. Every day, Prometheus’ own immortality sentences him to a ceaseless torment, as an eagle arrives daily to rip out his organs. 

Proteus, an 'old man of the sea', and friend to sea creatures, despised sharing his knowledge of everything and did everything he could to keep it away from others. 

Thomas and and Ephraim’s symbolic representation of Prometheus and Proteus in the film is highly prominent, and Eggers shows his dedication to his craft, in how magnificently he delivers the symbolism and accuracy of the representations.

Ephraim, after constantly being told not to look into the light of the lighthouse at the beginning of the film, is shown constantly making attempts to get a glance at the forbidden sight, while Thomas consistently keeps Ephraim from the light. 

While all of what was just mentioned is highly obvious, and the Greek mythology aspect was confirmed by the director himself, the film does leave itself open for many interpretations. When watching the two interact with each other, there are several hints that the two characters may be two personalities of one man, but the film never confirms nor denies this and in doing so, adds to the mystery element of the film. 

Admittedly, the film does become confusing at times, and I personally wish some of these things were more straightforward. With that being said, I believe the two are definitely separate people, given the different characteristics they each represent from the mythology but in hand with that, adding to the layering of the film, they also represent different sides of the same person/humanity. One thing I’ve noticed most reviews don’t pick up on, is the characters smoking. Ephraim loves cigarettes, and Thomas loves an old fashioned pipe, which I believe is a hint at the representations of two sides to the same person. Humans are often curious like Ephraim, but also hate having their intelligence questioned, and feel like we know everything, just as Thomas does. 

To further my belief that they do in fact represent two sides of the same person while being two separate people, and represent two separate legends, there is a specific scene within the film where Ephraim offers a confession to Thomas, that proves Thomas’s prediction earlier in the movie about Ephraim's being “on the run” correct, but also helps to solidify the idea that they may be the same person, as evidenced by their 'Christian names' which are revealed towards the end of the film. 

When I was in high school, amongst all the comic reading and movie watching I did, I also studied Greek mythology, which helped me view and understand this movie, and how I feel Eggers intended for it to be judged. In a similar fashion to comic book films always referencing the original comics, the nods to Greek mythology within the film aren’t overly abundant like a comic book related film, but are obvious and straightforward, and are still executed in an odd, yet effective fashion. 

In the beginning of the film, Thomas mentions how his last wickie/assistant thought he heard the sirens, notorious for luring sailors in with their singing, and then preying on them. 
Later in the film we see Ephraim’s desire to give in to the siren's call, several times, using the same totem as the previous assistant. This leads to yet another one of the many unanswered questions that are left up to the viewer to decide, in addition to the other blatant ones, like is Thomas driving Ephraim crazy on purpose?

Is the liquor poisoning both men’s minds? And last, but certainly not least, is the ‘Shutter Island’-esque question of whether Ephraim has simply gone insane, after waiting out a storm that deprived him of his ride off the rock, and everything that happens after is just a figment of his imagination? 
All of this is certainly plausible, and the last even being hinted at by Thomas within the film, but the viewers never get a definitive answer, and it’s ultimately left up to each and every one of our minds to decide what actually happened in the film in regard to these questions. 

As mentioned above, the acting from both Pattinson and DaFoe is phenomenal, without a doubt, Oscar worthy, and may be Joaquin Phoenix’s only rivals for best performance of the year, aside from Shia LaBeouf and Zack Gottsagen in ‘The Peanut Butter Falcon’. Willem and Robert showcase great, yet underrated chemistry in the film, and give two performances that use body language, facial expressions, and even eye movement that capture, and convey, the slightest subtleties of annoyance and other emotions perfectly. 
Also, DaFoe’s unmistakable voice truly fits with the old language of sailors and the 1800 and/or early 1900’s perfectly. 

The score, composed by Mark Korven, and the cinematography, by Justin Blaschke, were both fantastic as well, and serve above and beyond their purpose. The score and cinematography of the film aren’t wasted for a second, and both do a wonderful job at creating a very unique atmosphere that’s relaxed, eerie, engulfing, and even horrifying, all rolled into one perfect blend that truly leaves the viewer’s emotions in limbo in a positive manner, awed by the flawless execution. 

Something that I rarely discuss within these reviews is the production within the film, and in this particular case, I must say that although the dialogue was hard to understand, and there are certain scenes where the dialogue is completely washed out by the two characters bickering, this film showcases the best sound mixing, and sound editing in a film since 2017’s ‘Dunkirk’, and it’d be a shame if The Lighthouse doesn’t take home those two Oscar awards, just as Dunkirk did at the 2018 Oscar awards. 

The Lighthouse currently has a 91% rating from critics on Rotten Tomatoes, and in a rare case, I agree with the critics for the most part, but have to knock it down ever so slightly. 
My personal rating on this film is an 8.5/10. I had several gripes with the film that prevent me from rating it any higher. The first being the film’s pace. It was incredibly slow, and although it’s necessary, the slow pacing made the film feel much longer than it actually was. In addition, the unnecessary sex scene is rarely a necessity in films, and the same applies here, however the masturbation scenes, which thankfully, aren’t shown in great detail, were necessary to help with one of the film’s layers, despite being incredibly uncomfortable to watch. 

This film most certainly isn’t for casual moviegoers and a lack of understanding of Greek/Roman mythology will hurt your viewing experience, especially at the end of the film. However; The Lighthouse is one of the best, grounded, most realistic and authentic looking depiction of two lighthouse keepers driven to the brink of insanity due to their solitary confinement on the rock, and/or other reasons left up to the viewer. 

The ending, though ambiguous, is cleverly executed, and may take several viewings to understand what happens to one of the main characters, and what the seagulls represent. 
It is more than just the obvious, and they're actually something else, and deserve to be left alone, as mentioned towards the beginning of the film. 
The Lighthouse, despite leaving quite a bit up to viewer’s imaginations and interpretations, is phenomenally layered, uses foreshadowing and subtlety magnificently and is well worth watching, and I wouldn’t be surprised to see this earn a “Best Picture” nomination at the Oscars this year! 

As always, have a great day, and an even better time at the movies! 

-Your friendly neighborhood critic, K 🙂