The Lighthouse – Arrow Video

Director: Robert Eggers
Screenplay: Robert Eggers and Max Eggers
Starring: Robert Pattinson and Willem Dafoe
Country: United States and Canada
Running Time: 109 min
Year: 2019
BBFC Certificate: 15

2015. Up and coming director Robert Eggers premieres his feature debut, The VVitch to unsuspecting audiences at the Sundance Film Festival to extremely positive reviews. A year later, it’s released by A24 across the world to great success, both commercially and critically. It’s blend of folk and horror aspects confused some audiences, but people who were on board for Eggers’ debut couldn’t wait to see what would come next. 

Four years later, in 2019, Eggers’ next film premieres at the Cannes Film Festival and out of all of the films he’s worked on, it’s probably his most acclaimed and beloved. The Lighthouse is a film that seemed like all those into film wouldn’t stop talking about outside of its premiere, and for good reason. It takes Eggers’ trademark folk horror style and cranks it up to 100, being shown in 1:19:1 black and white, an interesting choice for a 2019 film. Because of this visual choice, the film stands apart from the crowd in such a unique manner. 

For those who haven’t seen it, you may be wondering, what’s The Lighthouse about? Set in the late 1800s, two wickies (a term for lighthouse keepers) are tasked with looking after a lighthouse for four weeks on an island, in the middle of nowhere. Ephraim Winslow (Robert Pattinson) is new to this, while Thomas Wake (Willem Dafoe) has his fair share of experience tending to lighthouses. Ephriam is instantly presented as a shady figure, somebody who’s nosy and may have ulterior motives from the get-go, while Thomas is more domineering and as the superior of the two, gives Ephraim his daily tasks. Whether this is scrubbing the floors and lighthouse until they’re sparkling clean, painting or forms of manual labour, Ephraim has his work cut out for him. The pair slowly form a bond of sorts but Thomas gets extremely protective of the “light” in the lighthouse, refusing to let Ephraim go up there to see it. What follows is a series of bizarre hallucinations, mermaid sightings, disputes with seagulls and a lot of alcohol consumption.

For a film that takes place entirely in one location, The Lighthouse is never dull and entertains consistently, while looking absolutely gorgeous to boot. Combined with the B&W 1:19:1 framing, the film was shot on 35mm and you can tell, with the grainy visuals making you feel like you’re watching some undiscovered gem from the 30s with the tech of the 2010s. It’s incredibly well acted from both Pattinson and Dafoe, who give some of my favourite performances of theirs easily. The film’s score is both subtle and in your face, with the film immediately opening with this droning horn sound that continues across the entire runtime. 

While the film definitely isn’t for everybody, I think most would find some element to enjoy from the film. It’s creative, unique, mesmerising, bold, hilarious, terrifying, intriguing and stunning all at the same time. Even though the film is considered a horror or psychological thriller by most, it’s also absolutely hilarious. It’s a film where one moment, you’ll see some of the most disturbing visuals in modern cinema, and the next, you’ll hear characters fart and have hostile beef with seagulls. It truly defines him as one of the most versatile filmmakers working today.

I’ve heard most people consider this film a masterpiece, and I’d have to agree with them. With The VVitch, Eggers proved himself to be more than capable at delivering unique horror experiences, and The Lighthouse is him honing in his craft to make something that few others could. While his next film, The Northman played it a tad too safe for me, perhaps due to some studio interference that Eggers has commented on in the past, I think the parts that bleed through as 100% Eggers are just as great as the highs of The Lighthouse. His upcoming Nosferatu is something I cannot wait to see in a cinema, as he’s yet to disappoint me. 

If you haven’t seen The Lighthouse yet, I’d absolutely recommend it for fans of horror, thrillers, gorgeous cinematography, excellent performances, mesmerising moments and for those who prefer their films to be a bit more on the unusual side. It’s easily my favourite film that Eggers has made and one of the best of the 2010s, hands down. 

Film:

The Lighthouse hits shelves June 12th via Arrow Video on Limited Edition 4K UHD and Blu-ray. I checked out the 4K UHD disc and it’s a winner. Visuals look sublime, allowing the grain to feel even more natural than it has done on previous Blu-ray releases, and this new 4K scan (which A24 themselves have released over in the States) gives the film new life on home media. The UHD disc benefits from HDR implementation, allowing the darker scenes to be presented with more detail than before, no crushed blacks in sight. Audio wise, it’s the same fantastic DTS-HD MA 5.1 that’s present on other releases, with optional English subtitles for the hard of hearing. On a technical level, it’s a top-notch release.

The two audio commentaries are solid, with my favourite being the one with Eggers. I loved hearing him joke about making the film more lighthearted than The VVitch by including fart jokes, how Willem Dafoe is afraid of heights or how there were multiple “Robs” on set, which caused a fair bit of confusion. 

Art of Darkness: Making The Lighthouse is the crown jewel of this release, a feature-length documentary regarding all aspects of making The Lighthouse. In-depth interviews with Robert Eggers, authors Guy Adams and Alexandra Benedict as well as other crew members. I loved hearing Eggers talk about how him and the crew strived for accuracy in all details of creating the lighthouse that the film takes place in. It’s the reason to pick up Arrow’s release. 

The Lighthouse Next Door is a 19 minute video essay by Kat Ellinger discussing the film, as well as Eggers’ folk horror influences. Ellinger delves the folk horror genre, and it’s an enthralling piece that I absolutely loved.

The Lighthouse: A Dark & Stormy Tale is an archival three-part documentary delving into how the film came into fruition, as well as interviews with Eggers, Dafoe, Pattinson as well as other members of the crew. Really informative and a great watch although there is some cross-over from the Art of Darkness piece previously discussed.

The two deleted scenes are presented without finished sound mixing or colour grading that aren’t essential by any means but it’s fun to see more in the universe of The Lighthouse, even if it only equates to around two and a half minutes of footage.

I wasn’t provided with the booklet, poster or art cards, unfortunately but I assume they’re the standard high quality that Arrow goodies usually are. 

Overall, Arrow Video’s limited edition of The Lighthouse will probably make it on most people’s top 10 best physical media releases of the year. The film itself is a masterpiece, the presentation is top of the line, it’s packed to the brim with extras, whether that’s feature length documentaries, multiple audio commentaries, video essays or deleted scenes, you’re covered with hours of behind the scenes content. There’s nothing to complain about here and Arrow Video once again deliver with a fantastic release for a fantastic film. 

Disc/Package:

Where to watch The Lighthouse