Starring: Robert Pattinson and Willem Dafoe

Directed by Robert Eggers

Universal, out now

 

Two lighthouse keepers try to maintain their sanity whilst living on a remote and mysterious New England island in the 1890s.

Shot in black and white, with an aspect ratio of 1.19:1 (essentially a square) Robert Eggers’ follow up to his 2015 horror The Witch is equally as disturbing, the monochrome patch in the middle of the cinema screen providing a window into a troubled world.

More arthouse than mainstream, the movie will not appeal to everyone, being of a deliberate pace, with little dialogue, and most of that is mumbled or stylised. So, why bother spending just under two hours watching two men holed up in a storm-lashed lighthouse? First and foremost, the performances are excellent with Robert Pattinson as the assistant keeper to Willem Dafoe’s salty sea dog, Thomas Wake.

Dafoe shouts to assert his authority, he farts, and cooks nasty meals, but significantly he refuses to let his co-worker climb to the very top of the lighthouse. It’s like Dracula forbidding Harker from straying in his castle, and here too Pattinson’s character tries to uncover the mystery while Dafoe sleeps during the day.

The four-week stay is looking manageable, the men finally coming to terms with one another, but then the relief boat doesn’t arrive and things go wrong, and they begin drinking. Thus the creeping dread built up over the first hour turns into full-on psychological horror and we lose grip on reality.

We no longer know what’s real and what’s imagined, or even how long they’ve been there. Is there really a head washed-up on the shore, or a mermaid with a siren cry? There’s no simple answer – it’s the drink, the seclusion, unhinged characters with dark secrets, and possibly the supernatural.

The Nova Scotia landscape is bleak and relentless and it’s easy to see why Jarin Blasche picked up Oscar and BAFTA nominations for his cinematography. Another key element is the atonal and unsettling score by Mark Corven (The Terror: Infamy) rising and falling like the tide, scratching and writhing as the nightmare unfolds.

Verdict: If anything, even stronger than The Witch, this is highly recommended for those who like their horror bleak and unconventional. Just watch out for those seagulls. 9/10

Nick Joy