The Lighthouse

I thought The Witch was one of the best horror movies I've ever seen because I felt so uneasy while watching it.  Robert Eggers' latest film, The Lighthouse, is another masterpiece that drew me into the madness on screen with such intensity that I could hardly breathe.  It is a dark and atmospheric psychological thriller about two men who descend into madness that is so brilliant I know that I will be thinking about it for days.  I may even need to see it again.  Ephraim Winslow (Robert Pattinson), a man with a troubled past looking for a new start, arrives on a desolate island in New England in the late 1800s to serve as an assistant to the lighthouse keeper, Thomas Wake (Willem Dafoe).  Wake is as gregarious (and flatulent) as Winslow is taciturn which immediately sets them at odds with each other.  Wake also allocates the most difficult tasks to Winslow, refusing to give him access to the top level of the lighthouse, and berates him for what he considers to be a subpar performance of his duties.  Their adversarial relationship is intensified when a storm delays the ferry coming to relieve them and their rations run low.  Winslow begins having hallucinations and becomes almost obsessed with seeing what is at the top of the lighthouse leading to several prolonged confrontations between the two men.  The narrative is from Winslow's perspective so there are many times when you are not sure if what you are seeing is real and I think this brilliantly draws the viewer into his madness.  Pattinson (who I think is very underrated as an actor) gives the best performance of his career and certainly the best one I've seen this year.  He convincingly portrays a man losing his grip on reality and displays every human emotion imaginable, from absolute despondency to ecstasy (in a brilliant scene).  Dafoe also gives an incredible performance as a man already unhinged.  The narrative is filled with enough mythology and allegory, my favorite being the seagull, to warrant another viewing just to unravel it all and the ambiguous ending will keep you thinking for days.  This movie is technically perfect.  The sound design, which features unrelenting wind, crashing ocean waves, creaking floorboards, blaring foghorns, and jarring machinery, is unbelievably unsettling and contributes much to the claustrophobia felt by the men and, vicariously, by the audience.  Finally, the black and white cinematography, the atmospheric lighting, the 1.19 to 1 aspect ratio, and the period verisimilitude in the production design (much like in The Witch) make you feel like you have traveled back into the 1800s for a viewing experience that will blow your mind.  I cannot recommend this haunting movie enough but it might be too intense for sensitive viewers.