I’m going to try and do this without spoilers, cause really, if you haven’t seen this you wouldn’t believe me.
Let me preface this review by saying, I’m still digesting this movie. I had seen the trailer when it first came out and it looked so interesting. Gave me a total Hitchcock vibe. So when I saw it at the redbox, I was excited. Now, I’m confused maybe? A bit horrified. Possibly, still unsure of what I watched last night.
If, like me, you watched this trailer,
than you should know, the trailer does not in any way prepare you for this movie. It alludes to a bit of weirdness, but the true level of weirdness in this film is just….out of this realm.
A24 is producing killer, original films and even though I do love a good blockbuster, I always am excited to see something new and a bit out there. This is more than a bit out there. I spent the entire time sitting with my knees tucked to my chest and one hand over my mouth so as to not let my jaw drop. I laughed hysterically when I probably shouldn’t have. I kept thinking I knew what was coming, but I didn’t. I didn’t know what was coming at all.
The Lighthouse was billed as a psychological thriller. It was likened to Hitchcock. Even I thought that was where it was going. Maybe had I watched The Witch first (I may not watch it now, knowing what I know about this director) I would have understood that Robert Eggers doesn’t do anything simple like psychological thriller. This film is like if Hitchcock had a baby with The Twilight Zone who then grew up to get drunk on absinthe with Dario Argento. Yeah, that’s a weird sentence but I stand by it.
There are parts of the movie that are so beautiful and bleak that it reaches out to grasp your heart, but then there are other parts that are so gross that they can overpower the beauty. I think that is possibly what Eggers was going for? If so, then he and his leads did that really well. The performances by Robert Pattinson and Willem Dafoe are a masterclass and I am personally affronted that they didn’t get Oscar nods. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a movie that was so effortlessly carried by two people; weird like this or not. Even at the oddest parts, the two leads are so good. So, so good. They draw you in and no matter what odd turpentine induced hallucinations that are going on, you want to watch. To see what happens next. It’s insane how it draws you in right as it weirds you out.
I guess I’m glad to say I watched it. That I survived what is the weirdest movie I have ever sat through. It’ll probably take me a few days longer to really figure out how I feel about it. I don’t think I can even give it a star rating at this point, because my opinion will probably change as I get further away from the actual viewing. I will say, if you want to watch it, beware. This film will dig into your brain and not let you go.
