The Lighthouse Movie Review
20Not to be confused with The Lighthouse (1998 film) or The Lighthouse (2016 film).
The Lighthouse
Two men, one elderly and one young, stand in front of a lighthouse with stern looks as seagulls fly overhead.
Theatrical release poster
Directed by Robert Eggers
Written by
Robert Eggers
Max Eggers
Produced by
Robert Eggers
Youree Henley
Rodrigo Teixeira
Jay Van Hoy
Starring
Willem Dafoe
Robert Pattinson
Cinematography Jarin Blaschke
Edited by Louise Ford
Music by Mark Korven
Production
companies
A24
Regency Enterprises
RT Features
Distributed by
A24 (United States)
VVS Films (Canada)
Release dates
May 19, 2019 (Cannes)
October 18, 2019 (United States)
Running time 109 minutes[1]
Countries
United States[2]
Canada[3]
Language English
Budget $11 million[4]
Box office $18.3 million[5]
The Lighthouse is a 2019 film directed and produced by Robert Eggers, from a screenplay he co-wrote with his brother Max Eggers. It stars Willem Dafoe and Robert Pattinson as nineteenth-century wickies (lighthouse keepers) embroiled in psychological turmoil after being marooned at a remote New England outpost by a destructive storm. The film has defied categorization in media, and interpretations of The Lighthouse range from a horror film, a psychological thriller, a survival film, and a character study, among others.
The Lighthouse first emerged from Max's re-envisioning of Edgar Allan Poe's unfinished short story of the same name. Robert assisted the development when Max was unable to complete the adaptation of "The Light-House", sourcing the plot from a nineteenth-century myth of a murder at a Welsh lighthouse. The Lighthouse draws visually from photography of 1890s New England, maritime-themed French cinema from the 1930s, and symbolist art. Principal photography took place in Nova Scotia beginning in April 2018 and consumed slightly over a month. It was shot in black-and-white with a nearly square 1.19:1 aspect ratio.
The film premiered at the 72nd Cannes Film Festival on May 19, 2019, and was theatrically released in the United States on October 18, 2019, by A24. It grossed over $18 million against an $11 million budget and received critical acclaim, with praise for the direction, visuals, and performances of Dafoe and Pattinson. It was nominated for Best Cinematography at the 92nd Academy Awards and 73rd British Academy Film Awards, in addition to numerous nominations and wins at other awards ceremonies. Many say it is one of the best films of 2019[6][7] and one of the best of the decade.[8][9