The Lighthouse (2019) 4/5At first I thought this would be a fictional take on a historical tragedy, just like the
Franklin's lost expedition (1845), which inspired a
book (2007) and then a TV adaptation courtesy of Scott Free Productions, specifically
first season of The Terror (2018). I tell you this because there was a mysterious disappearance of three keepers in 1900;
Flannan Isles Lighthouse, Scotland. But no, and while the film may have been vaguely inspired by that real-life event; this is another story. In fact I think part of the movie is inspired by the work of Edgar Allan Poe instead.
I enjoyed it for the most part. I had some problems with the pacing. There was substance though. And it is thanks to that atmosphere, and tension. It mostly worked for me. I'd say that it is not a pretentious story, and is far from being a shallow tale. Both Pattinson and Dafoe were amazing in their acting. I liked when the characters were looking and posing for the camera. I felt it like when you're watching a theatrical work instead of a film. I was already waiting for a narrator. But the silence, the sound of the sea and the creepy music were more than enough. I absolutely loved.
Yes. Robert Pattinson's character was insane as f**k, but within his own madness, there was a maze of threads that could be interpreted in one or more ways: was the one-eyed gull the ghost of Thomas Wake's former companion? Ephraim Winslow himself ended up losing an eye. Or what about the visions? Maybe not only creatures are hallucinations, but also Thomas Wake chasing him with an ax; Is it all a nightmare? I think this is the way you should adapt something like "At the Mountains of Madness". Maybe not in a literal way, but it is certainly worth borrowing the positive aspects of this psychological thriller, especially when it comes to madness and atmosphere, and again, I really dig it and that's it.
