Synopsis
The hypnotic and hallucinatory tale of two lighthouse keepers on a remote and mysterious New England island in the 1890s.
Directed by Robert Eggers.
Written by Max Eggers and Robert Eggers.
Starring Willem Dafoe and Robert Pattinson.
Released 31st January 2020.
Review
Just when you thought it wasn't possible for Willem Dafoe's expressions to haunt you in your dreams they go and cast him as a crazed lighthouse keeper in a moody black and white film.
This won't be like any of my other reviews because honestly I'm mainly done with this film.
There's no denying that the look of the film was amazing and it captured an "authentic" oldie feel. The film was shot in 1.19:1 ratio which left you with an almost square frame. I have no problem with that as an idea but it's not like the rest of the screen disappears, if it was shown on that sized screen then fine but it's not, it's shown on modern wise screen and it's distracting.
Dafoe gave nothing less than you'd expect, though I don't know if I was sad or relieved to learn that they added his farts in post. Pattinson, despite that accent, gave a good performance and I honestly never thought I'd say that out loud.
Despite these great performances I couldn't have cared less about the story and anything that happened. I'd say it felt pretentious but I really feel like this was a short that somehow got away with itself.
Two final things:
- A24 have not managed to change my love/hate relationship with their movies.
- Pattinson as Winslow does something that I think everyone in Bristol has thought about doing at least once with a seagull.
What you should do
I imagine you're all going to watch it regardless of what I say.
Movie thing you wish you could take home
You can take anything you want about this film, I don't want it.
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