The Lighthouse

Name: The Lighthouse
Genre: Drama, Mystery, Fantasy, Horror
Released: October 18, 2019
Duration: 109 min
Rating: 83
Cast: Robert Pattinson, Valeriia Karaman, Willem Dafoe

2019

METASCORE

Universal acclaim based on 52 Critic Reviews

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USER SCORE

Generally favorable reviews based on 599 Ratings

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8.0	User Score Generally favorable reviews based on 599 Ratings

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The Lighthouse

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Movie Details & Credits

A24 | Release Date: October 18, 2019 | Not Rated

Starring: Robert Pattinson, Valeriia Karaman, Willem Dafoe

Summary: A hypnotic and hallucinatory tale of two lighthouse keepers on a remote and mysterious New England island in the 1890s.

Director: Robert Eggers

Genre(s): Drama, Mystery, Fantasy, Horror

Rating: Not Rated

Runtime: 109 min

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Critic Reviews

100

Elena Lazic

Dec 29, 2021

Eggers understands that fairy tales and superstitions don’t persist because they are true or because they are absolute fantasies, but because they are both at the same time. Read full review

100

Sara Stewart

Oct 17, 2019

By turns funny, sinister, haunting, historically fascinating and mythical, The Lighthouse is one of the best films of the year. Read full review

Ben Croll

May 30, 2019

The craft is meticulous and the level of detail elaborate, but the story itself is simple as can be. Read full review

James Berardinelli

Oct 25, 2019

The Lighthouse is a riveting but decidedly non-mainstream horror film. Even if the ending is imperfect, I’d love to see more movies like this. Read full review

Tom Duggins

Jan 29, 2020

Dafoe and Pattinson bounce off one another brilliantly. Read full review

Vince Mancini

Jan 2, 2020

Some of the men’s fancies are beautifully visualized (including what I will describe only as an extremely vaginal apparition), but they remain just that — fancies. It’s never clear that what’s happening in the men’s wizened heads alters the world outside it. Read full review

Mick LaSalle

Oct 15, 2019

The Lighthouse is more than four times longer than a “Twilight Zone” episode, and 100 times worse. Read full review

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User Reviews

dredgman

Oct 25, 2019

Wow, what a masterpiece! Starting with the visuals, The Lighthouse is absolutely gorgeous to look at. The imagery feels instantly iconic, and the almost-square aspect ratio helps set the time period as well as add claustrophobia to the mix.

Dafoe and Pattinson are riveting in their roles,Wow, what a masterpiece! Starting with the visuals, The Lighthouse is absolutely gorgeous to look at. The imagery feels instantly iconic, and the almost-square aspect ratio helps set the time period as well as add claustrophobia to the mix.

Dafoe and Pattinson are riveting in their roles, giving career-best performances. There is an interesting ebb and flow to their relationship in the movie as if discussing, can men — or at least heterosexual men — truly be intimate with each other? As the men become more intimate during their time cloistered on this island, they push each other away, perhaps by sheer masculinity, only to revisit a need for human connection yet again.

There are also themes of power and the desire for it, or at least to be respected as an equal. And as one might expect in a film about spending weeks on an island, sanity also comes into question.

The few occasions during the moving in which my immersion broke were only because I found myself considering what must have been a truly brutal and demanding filming process.… Expand

7 of 10 users found this helpful73

Sinews

Apr 6, 2020

Every aspect of The Lighthouse works. Not a moment of filmmaking is dull, unwarranted, and not one but of these actors' talents were put to waste. Moreover, The Lighthouse is far, far greater than the some of its parts. In essence, The Lighthouse is to the 2010's what "There Will Be Blood"Every aspect of The Lighthouse works. Not a moment of filmmaking is dull, unwarranted, and not one but of these actors' talents were put to waste. Moreover, The Lighthouse is far, far greater than the some of its parts. In essence, The Lighthouse is to the 2010's what "There Will Be Blood" was to the 2000's - unabashedly over-the-top, larger than life, often-times ham-fisted and downright corny, but utterly compelling, and more than sophisticated enough to justify its bizarre conceits. Words cannot do justice to this film's sense of atmosphere. It gets compared to SpongeBob Squarepants of all things, and the comparison is not unwarranted. The Lighthouse is in many ways an adult fever-dream episode of SpongeBob, with its twisted, absurd sense of comedic timing, weirdly-authentically nautical atmosphere, and a willingness to entertain the weird, scary, and abhorrent for the sake of memorability. It's campiness works because this story clearly doesn't take itself seriously, taking as much time to chide and mock its characters and their questionable motives. Very little is explained over the 2-hour runtime, yet very little needed to be explained. Its absurdly simple premise invites all kinds of weird shenanigans, as its rudimentary narrative required some abnormal **** to possibly be interesting.

Not enough can be said for Willem Dafoe and Robert Pattinson, who play their respective characters exactly the way they ought to be played - exaggerated, almost grotesque abominations of the archetypes they're supposed to embody. Dafoe, a grizzled old sea dog constitutionally incapable of using timely language, at the cost of making his speech so mysterious and antiquated as to be almost completely devoid of meaning, and Pattinson, in perhaps a parody of his bleary-eyed heartthrob origins, a completely insufferable young buck who's so smug and self-assured in his way of life that he flat out refuses to cooperate with his elderly cohort in any way and makes his own life harder in effect.

Without spoiling anything, the back and forth between these two actors is the final piece of the puzzle towards making this one of the greatest horror films of all-time. The tension escalates to such a comically absurd degree that when it all boils over, Daniel Day-Lewis' savage beatdown of Paul Dano at the end of "There Will Be Blood" almost seems subdued and muted by comparison. And yet, the heart and soul of this film is how much fun it manages to be, despite the rather weighty subjects it plays with. It's a sophisticated, yet hilarious homage to weird fiction that will leave you absolutely speechless, nerve-wracked, drained, and profoundly entertained by the time it reaches its conclusion.… Expand

0 of 0 users found this helpful00

alejandro970

Jan 5, 2020

¿What you get when you have two men stranded on a boulder in the middle of the sea? The idea is a blow of fresh air, that reminds the early movies of genre, with a mixture of psychological horror and suspense that grows like a sliding down snowball. Good for "no more Mr. Nice Guy" Pattinson.

1 of 2 users found this helpful11

Matert

Mar 23, 2022

is a good movie to see lorem ipsum lorem ipsum loren ipsum lorem ipsum lorem ipsum loren ipsum

0 of 0 users found this helpful00

jomatchue

Oct 27, 2019

"The Lighthouse" is a stunning psychological thriller with beautiful cinematography and haunting performances. Director Robert Eggers uses a simple premise to create an engrossing and memorable viewing experience that will keep you on the edge of your seat. I liked aspects of his previous"The Lighthouse" is a stunning psychological thriller with beautiful cinematography and haunting performances. Director Robert Eggers uses a simple premise to create an engrossing and memorable viewing experience that will keep you on the edge of your seat. I liked aspects of his previous film, "The Witch," but I found the third act underwhelming. "The Lighthouse" is a vast improvement - and a great example of how to get a horror movie right. Willem Dafoe, who's always good, does an amazing job. Having been familiar with Robert Pattinson only from his unremarkable turn as Edward Cullen, I was pleasantly surprised by his intense but complicated performance. The music, sound design, and visuals of "The Lighthouse" are captivating. However I found a few scenes poorly lit, and Willem Dafoe's dialogue is difficult to understand due to the thickness of his sailor dialect. But despite a few problems here and there, "The Lighthouse" is a powerful tale of insanity and isolation. 8/10.… Expand

4 of 5 users found this helpful41

ProfAmateur

Apr 26, 2023

Horror is probably the wrong description for this film. But it is very creepy. The film alternates between funny, humiliating, dangerous and creepy scenes. According to the internet, the movie deals with some mythology themes, which honestly no one who hasn't studied this subjectHorror is probably the wrong description for this film. But it is very creepy. The film alternates between funny, humiliating, dangerous and creepy scenes. According to the internet, the movie deals with some mythology themes, which honestly no one who hasn't studied this subject understands. That's why the ending leaves a dissatisfied feeling.… Expand

0 of 0 users found this helpful00

Madhup

Feb 6, 2021

The director needs to fight off the hands. How can you film such an abomination????? I didn't finish watching this movie. What is the moral in it??
Режиссёру нужно отбить руки. Как можно снимать такую мерзость????? Я не стал досматривать этот фильм. Какая в нём мораль??The director needs to fight off the hands. How can you film such an abomination????? I didn't finish watching this movie. What is the moral in it??
Режиссёру нужно отбить руки. Как можно снимать такую мерзость????? Я не стал досматривать этот фильм. Какая в нём мораль??

0 of 2 users found this helpful02

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38	#38 Best Movie of 2019
35	#35 Most Discussed Movie of 2019