The Lighthouse (2019, Spoiler Free Review)

Robert (The Witch) & Max Eggers present The Lighthouse. Starring Willem Dafoe & Robert Pattinson in a character driven, slow grinding spiral through the human psyche.

Consider it akin to a Theatre performance: few actors (mostly the two) and a single stage. There are long silences, few spoken words and at times it borders Shakespeare (especially when Dafoe breaks into a monologue).

I think most will prefer to wait and watch it from the comfort of their homes. Runtime is just under 2 hours, but it is by no means an “action-packed” film.

IMDB list it as a drama, fantasy, horror, mystery. It’s mostly a drama. Horror is a fair label due to the darker nature and sequences, but don’t expect jump scares. More disturbed than horrifying, but it doesn’t go overboard.

Calling it Fantasy or Mystery seems misleading to me. Sure there are fantasy elements and there is the mystery questions: “what is this,” “what is going on,” “is this real or not?“

I‘d say mysterious instead of mystery and mythical/psychological instead of fantasy. And that’s all you get without spoilers.

Overall I’d give it a 7.5/10; with room to grow over time. It could age well. There’s also more to pickup and understand — but again, I don’t want to overhype. Limit Expectations.