The Lighthouse

2019
8.4
The Lighthouse
Poster The Lighthouse

Title: The Lighthouse

Original Title: The Lighthouse

Year: 2019

Info

Release Dates

  • UK: January 31 2020
  • United States: October 18 2019

Plot

Filmed in black and white, this horror film transports us to a little island on the high seas of Maine, Nova Scotia, at the beginning of the 20th century. There, the only two main characters of this film, a veteran lighthouse keeper (Williem Dafoe, 'At Eternity's Gate') and his young assistant (Robert Pattinson, 'High Life'), will have to live together for four weeks. The tranquil state in which their lives appear to unfold changes forever when a supernatural event linked to one of the most well-known and infamous maritime myths hits the coast.

'The Lighthouse' is hailed as a feature film that examines the nuances of power and dominance in the relationship between its two characters, two men that little by little find themselves pushed to brutal behaviour balanced with rare moments of mutual understanding under the effects of alcohol. Meanwhile, the isolation in which they have to live generates a certain sexual tension underpinned by a morbid desire for death as the progressive spiral of secrets begins to weigh heavy on their consciences.

The film is directed by Robert Eggers ('The Witch'), an expert in psychological horror cinema, who will immerse the viewers in a perceptive and paranoid chaos in which the limit boundary the real world and the imaginary world is inevitably blurred.

Awards

  • 2020 Academy Awards (Oscars): 1 0
  • 2020 BAFTA Awards: 1 0

Cast

Director:

Robert EggersRobert Eggers

Videos

'The Lighthouse' #2 trailer 1:27

'The Lighthouse' #2 trailer

November 8 2019

'The Lighthouse' trailer 1:31

Photos

The Lighthouse
The Lighthouse
The Lighthouse
The Lighthouse
The Lighthouse
The Lighthouse
The Lighthouse
The Lighthouse

Trivia

The accents

Dafoe's accent is the jargon of Atlantic fishermen and sailors of the time, while Pattinson's character's lines are based off a very specific Maine farming dialect.

Why Dafoe and Pattinson?

Pattinson and Dafoe reached out to Robert Eggers to work with them because they loved The Witch (2015). So when Eggers finished the script, it was always clear to him to cast them because he had been looking for a project to do with both. Before this movie, Eggers talked with Pattinson about other roles in films

Technical aspects

Since the film is set in 1890, it was shot on 35mm black and white Double-X 5222 film, all while augmenting the Panavision Millennium XL2 camera with vintage Baltar lenses from as early as 1918 to as late as 1938. This makes the aspect ratio approximately 1.19:1, which is practically square. To enhance the image and make it resemble early photography, a custom cyan filter made by Schneider Filters emulated the look and feel of orthochromatic film from the late 19th century.

Recommended movies and tv shows The Lighthouse

Follow Us