I avoided everything regarding The Lighthouse.

Granted, I saw the first released still image when it was in production; when I was at Cannes I overheard director Robert Eggers took the Directors Fortnight prize; and I accidentally came across the Rotten Tomatoes consensus. But other than that I went in cold turkey. I saw not one clip or trailer and not a single review (written or otherwise). This isn't because I was avoiding the film itself, quite the opposite. I wanted to go in blind, to have no expectations, to be fully immersed into the film with no preconceptions (false or or otherwise).

On a technical level, The Lighthouse is nuts. Shot on black-and-white 35mm with a 1:19:1 aspect ratio, and I assume the costume and production design was handled identically to Eggers' first and previous film The Witch, where all costumes, decor, props, and sets were made to look authentic by using the same materials people at the time would've used. The dialogue too is period-appropriate. The cinematography, with the help of the aspect ratio, is intended (with massive success) to evoke the silent film era. The aspect ratio is also used as a storytelling device - since the two characters are alone on a small island in a lighthouse, it's there to make us feel as crushed by the circumstances and the job as they are. It even somehow manages to squish the (constant and overbearing) score and sound design in there too. Which is W A C K. The film is an all-out assault on the senses.

On a thematic level, The Lighthouse is pretty clever. It touches on alcoholism, alienation, external and internal conflict, identity, and time while also evoking the myths of both Prometheus and Proteus. There's a butt-ton of Freudian and Jungion fun happening in there too.

Literally speaking, it's the story of a man doing what it takes to leave his past behind, to find success so that he can escape. A man who needs help. A man who needs a light. It's also about the man who gets in his way - a man who is controlling, demeaning, superstitious, and possibly a liar. And it's those lies, or those maybe-lies, or those not-lies that make The Lighthouse ambiguous on a story level.

How much is fantasy or reality is up for debate. However, usually ambiguity is the way to go. Most of the time I'm Mr Ambiguity. Less is usually more. But the ambiguity of The Lighthouse is the rare occasion of ambiguity hurting a film. The Witch was refreshing for being unashamedly unambiguous. It's pretty obvious some of the things in The Lighthouse are hallucinations and imaginations, but other times you're not sure. And that might be okay actually if the film DIDN'T TELL US that it may or may not be unambiguous. But at the same time a lot of it seems to be ambiguous for the sake of ambiguity, even random things that don't really need any vagueness. Besides that, still, there are logical concerns and questions regarding the film's plotting.

Overall, I guess what I'm saying is the plot (not the story, there's a difference) is The Lighthouse's weakness.

But obviously it's still a strong sophomoric feature. The acting is stellar (although Dafoe teeters a little too much in the hammy direction), the craftsmanship is neat af, the score and sound is incredibly effective (if a bit overly oppressive), and the story is very gothic and mythological (which I'm all about). I just wish it wasn't so ambiguous and that the plotting made a little more sense.