The Lighthouse: Isolation and Madness at Sea

Robert Egger's new film The Lighthouse follows the life of two keepers who are maintaining a remote lighthouse. It occurs in the 1800s off the coast of New England in hauntingly black and white. The film explores themes of claustrophobia, rage, isolation, madness, and relationships.


Robert Pattinson's character, Winslow, is new to this lifestyle of keeping while his partner played by Willem Dafoe is more seasoned and takes over the night shift of tending to the light. Winslow handles all the hard work of hauling rocks, cleaning and fighting off the island's many seagulls.


Something that eats away at Winslow is Wake's constant reminders that he is not fit enough to be allowed up to see the light at any point. Wake maintains this by keeping the lighthouse locked and sleeping with the key. It gets to Winslow as his mental state begins to slowly deteriorate throughout the film. He begins to have hallucinations of tentacles and mermaids that continue to get stronger throughout the film and viewers begin to question if what they are seeing is real or all in Winslow's mind. His sanity diminishes as he is deprived of sex and the conditions of the island continue to worsen and wear him down to rage.


Winslow begins to grow agitated and goes on many drunken fueled outrages. His reality feathers away and is replaced by alcohol, hunger, anger and sea madness. Pattinson's performance continues to get larger as his madness increases. Both performances are incredible as Dafoe keeps up with many lengthy sailor monologues using phrases like " arrr" and Pattinson literally snaps. While all this craziness is happening the film still stays in control through the leadership of its director. The dynamic of the relationship is built off of Dafoe's constant talking and Pattinson's rage.


The cinematography uses washed-out grays and shadows add to the hauntingly tone and the confusion of dream versus reality. It deepens the unease of the film. The vertical shots of the lighthouse and how Eggers moves the camera up that gives viewers access to a place off-limits to Winslow. Eggers uses lights and frames on each actor to emphasize every facial crease, bone, and detail on the face. The framing also adds a sense of claustrophobia on the island when it is realized that they can't get off and begin to go crazy from the solidarity.


Dafoe and Pattinson are perfectly matched and move through cycles of harmony and friction. They give performances viewers have not seen before that are completely mesmerizing. The film is a horror movie about the inner and outer darkness of humans as seen through the use of lighting and behavior of the actors. The Lighthouse is a raw masterpiece that blurs the lines between reality and headspace to tell the story of isolation at sea.