The Lighthouse

ive never written a ‘serious’ review, but god this movie was spectacular. it might just be because i wrote an english essay before this but i have so much to say about this entire movie. im so confused but i know so so much at the same time. robert pattinson and willem dafoe are outstanding actors and i can never get enough of their work, and together they are honest just captivating. i felt so drawn to learning more about their characters and i feel like they both played their parts perfectly. the complicated relationship between the two and the evolution of them both as characters as they endured the claustrophobic isolation on that island had me HOOKED. the black and white filter for the entire movie just adds to the eerie atmosphere that the sound effects help create and i fucking love it.  the clear escape from the past pattinsons character is desperately trying to achieve mixed with dafoes character seeming to be (in my opinion) his own subconscious, his own guilt that consumes him, is fucking amazing. the way he keeps him away from the beacon, refusing to let him anywhere near and locking him out, to me that represents the acceptance and forgiveness he yearns for. instead of confronting his past and letting himself have the ‘light’, his guilt stops him until eventually he buries it, and buries his own chance at accepting himself with it, reaching that escape he wanted at the cost of his own sanity the contrast shown from pattinsons quieter, more obliging self at the beginning, to the moment he snaps and beats the shit out of that bird is crazy. that was honestly the moment i could see him shift into something else entirely. maybe even a glimpse at his past self, which is revealed as the movie unfolds whether my interpretation is the ‘true’ one or not doesnt matter. whether dafoe is his own subconscious, an imaginary figure to accompany pattinson in his lonesome, or simply another lighthouse keeper who descends into madness alongside him, its undeniable that this film is subjective in meaning, and also a piece of art. and its amazing. and disturbing. and fucking perfect.