The Lighthouse (2019) – Psychological Horror/Drama

The Lighthouse (2019), directed by Robert Eggers, is a haunting psychological horror set in the late 19th century, starring Willem Dafoe and Robert Pattinson in two of the most unsettling performances of their careers. Shot entirely in stark black-and-white, the film traps audiences on a desolate New England island where two lighthouse keepers descend into paranoia, madness, and myth.

The story follows Thomas Wake (Dafoe), a grizzled veteran, and Ephraim Winslow (Pattinson), a newcomer seeking work and escape from his past. As the days stretch into weeks, isolation and storms cut them off from the outside world. Tensions rise over strict routines, power struggles, and the mysterious light that Wake jealously guards at the top of the tower. The longer they remain, the more their grip on reality slips—blurring the line between hallucination, folklore, and the terrifying possibility of supernatural forces at play.

Eggers crafts the film with meticulous detail, using a square aspect ratio, vintage lenses, and sound design that immerses viewers in the howling wind and crashing sea. The result is claustrophobic, oppressive, and deeply unsettling. Dafoe’s monologues echo like ancient curses, while Pattinson embodies a slow unraveling that mirrors the audience’s own disorientation.

Critics hailed The Lighthouse for its originality, atmosphere, and powerhouse performances, earning an Academy Award nomination for Best Cinematography. Its themes of loneliness, toxic masculinity, and the fragile boundary between sanity and madness continue to fuel discussion long after the credits roll.

For those willing to brave its stormy seas, The Lighthouse is not just a horror film—it’s an experience of psychological descent, mythic dread, and visual poetry, cementing its place as one of the most memorable films of the decade.