Among the most visionary and daring films of 2019, director Robert Eggers’ sensationally absurd sailor’s tale, The Lighthouse, should be recognized as one of the great achievements. Eggers – who’s known by arthouse fans for writing and directing 2015’s Puritan-possession film The Witch – returns with another nightmarishly hypnotic unraveling into madness. 

Photographed in 4:3 black and white film by The Witch cinematographer Jarin Blaschke, The Lighthouse tells the story of two lighthouse keepers stationed on a remote and mysterious island in 1890s New England. Newly hired hand Winslow (Robert Pattinson) is eager to do an honest pay’s work, at first uninterested in any small talk with his boss, Thomas (Willem Dafoe). But as the craggy old Thomas rants on (the period piece dialects that Pattinson, and especially Dafoe show is humorous and astonishing), hints of oddness creep in. Winslow soon finds that he’s questioning Thomas’s sanity altogether. But as the stormy season grows closer and stronger, and as stranger occurrences set in (including seagulls and tall tales of mermaids), Winslow tries to keep everything – including a checkered past – together.

The teaming of Eggers storytelling along with the dedication from Pattinson and Dafoe – giving the most fascinating and utterly incredible on-screen performances this year – The Lighthouse is some of the most demented fun you’ll have in a theater this year.

THE LIGHTHOUSE (2019)

Starring: Willem Dafoe, Robert Pattinson

Directed by: Robert Eggers

Written by: Robert Eggers, Max Eggers

Distributor: A24

Running time: 109 minutes

Playing: Opening 10/18 at ArcLight Hollywood and The Landmark