Two guys, one lighthouse

I don't remember where exactly I heard about "The Lighthouse". Given the amount of various horror and movie news I follow, it could be anywhere. However, I know what exactly encouraged me to check this film out. It was... A "Boku no Hero Academia" AU – Shipwreck AU by Zhampy (which I really recommend, it's great!). I loved it so much I just had to see the movie that inspired it. Fortunately, one of libraries in my city has "The Lighthouse" in its collection. I was so excited, I watched this film the same day I got it and... Well... I'll be honest: to say it was wild is to say fucking nothing.

I know jokes about Pattinson's most famous role had been done to death, but: Edward looks strange with moustache.

"The Lighthouse" tells a story of two lighthouse keepers, old and experienced Thomas Wake (Willem Dafoe) and rookie Ephraim Winslow (Robert Pattinson). After arriving at the island in the middle of nowhere, they are supposed to spend four weeks there and take care of the lighthouse (what a surprise!). However, from the beginning nothing goes as it should: Wake treats Winslow like shit, makes him do all the hard work and doesn't allow him to see the Fresnel lens. Fortunately, as time passes, the guys start to get on a little better.

And then things happen. Many things. And due to the fact "The Lighthouse" is more "how it happened" than "what happened", this post will be spoilerific as hell, so

SPOILER ALERT!!!

We are presented with two main characters in the beginning, but with story's progress the movie centres more on Winslow and his fall into insanity. He starts as a pretty sensible (if quiet) man and then becomes more and more unhinged. The movie doesn't explain if he used to be sane or was mad from the beginning and just suppressed it. It also doesn't give a clear reason of his madness – it can be either Wake's abuse or something supernatural. According to some theories, the whole plot can also be a Winslow's dying dream. However, this all isn't actually important. Only thing that matters is the process and, actually, it works surprisingly well. Pattinson's portrayal of a man, who is gradually losing his mind is very convincing and shows his brilliant acting skills. He slowly builds up the tension to the point, when the ending and him finally losing his shit feels almost cathartic.

And it's amazing.

While I can't say a bad word about Dafoe's acting (it was brilliant), Wake isn't even half interesting as Winslow. To be honest, for most of the time this drunken asshole was just pissing me off. Of course, he has some great moments as a character, like the scene with a curse or his "relationship" with the lighthouse, but still... Sometimes I felt the creators just overdid it. For example, I know this farting thing was (probably) meant to be a joke to relieve the tension, but I got tired of it halfway into the movie. Maybe it's because I hate toilet humour (I'll be honest: most of shitty jokes aren't funny when you suffer from chronic intestinal illness), I don't know. Or maybe it really is just too much.

To be honest, even without farting Thomas Wake would be a hard to bear character. He is obnoxious, bossy, arrogant and drinks way too much alcohol. Actually, if I were to point in the film one thing that really disturbed me, it would be drinking. Okay, I have to admit scenes with Wake and Winslow singing and dancing are pretty funny and I even chuckled at "All right, have it your way. I like your cooking", but the rest... Damn, that really is scary. The most important factor of that scariness is the realistic portrayal of alcoholism. Wake drinks all the time, to the point that near the ending lack of alcohol is one of his biggest worries. Also, the scene when he urges Winslow to drink with him is so relatable it made me extremely uncomfortable (due to various reasons I'm an abstinent and I can't count how many times I got shamed or laughed at because of it).

While we are at it, personally I think shit hits the fan not because Winslow kills the seagull, but because he starts abusing alcohol. Being drunk basically makes him lose all the control he had earlier and unleash all suppressed emotions. Of course, he has already started losing his mind, but the intoxication makes it quicker and more violent. It's also worth noticing both he and Wake are completely smashed in the ending, which only fuels their obsessions and paranoias. It's truly horrifying.

So drink responsibly, sweethearts!

Of course, I'm not saying that the rest of the film isn't scary at all... However, I'd rather call it creepy. While it has some more typical scares, like the scene with severed head in the basket, it mostly relies on unsettling atmosphere and damn, it's done awesomely. The audiovisual side is perfect. Sparse music (most sounds are the in-universe ones) and deep shadows create amazing uneasy feelings. Also, recording the movie on an old tape in black and white was great idea. Because of that, most scenes are incredibly dark with very few bright points. The fact we can't see everything only adds to the general creepiness.

Actually, I really enjoyed the supernatural aspect of the story, or rather the ambiguity of it. To the end we have no idea who Wake actually is (is he even human?!), what's going on with the siren (I think Winslow is hallucinating her, but it's only my interpretation) and what actually was on the top of the lighthouse. The general mindfuck is aided by the montage, which tends to be very trippy. However, my favourite thing is the addiction of sexual themes. It isn't very explicit, but blends with the rest pretty well, fleshing out the general squickiness. To be honest, I wish more horror creators added erotica to their works, fear and sex go together awesomely (which is why Luca Guadagnino's "Suspiria" is my absolutely favourite movie ever. The mix of horror and sensuality here is done perfectly).

But let's omit the standard "How to have sex with a mermaid?" discussion, it isn't that important, at least not now.

Time for a little digression, because there is one thing this movie made me think of. When Wake insults Winslow, he often calls him a dog. Later, when the tables turn, Winslow makes Wake behave like one. During this scene I was asking myself "Why is comparing anyone to a dog something offensive?". Damn, even now calling someone a "dog" is insulting. Quick research showed me people often consider dogs as inferior to them, so comparing someone to one suggests we view this person as worse. To be honest, I think it's a relic of the past that should be dropped as soon as possible. Dogs are loyal, friendly and love their humans unconditionally. They are absurdly cute too. Also, media depict them as human's best friends. Taking this all into consideration, the fact that in 21st century "dog" still is an insult is a prime example of hypocrisy. Times change and language should too.

Coming back to the topic: actually, I really enjoyed watching "The Lighthouse". I expected an artistic, slow burn horror and got it. Of course, it took me a while to get used to the visuals (I usually don't watch black and white movies), but they didn't bother me as much as I thought they would. However, I'm not sure if I can recommend this movie. It's brutal, crazy, full of mindfuck and sometimes obscene. And awesome.

So awesome.

PS I made a Twitter account earlier this month. I'm pretty active there (or at least more active than on this blog), so if you want to be up to date with my shit, see WIPs or read some of my contextless thoughts, follow @kikihakanate. Thank you in advance, sweethearts!

Image sources:
All movie stills were screenshot by me from the official trailer and belong to A24.
Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hyag7lR8CPA

The poster: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt7984734/mediaviewer/rm2887891457

Seagull poster: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt7984734/mediaviewer/rm3720710145