10 Best A24 Horror Films

When the sulky Winslow takes on a new job as a lighthouse keeper, he must suffer through back-breaking work, nautical nightmares, and his boss Tom’s drunken, cantankerous behavior. But when harsh weather strands them on the island and the isolation stretches on for too long, the two men slowly lose their minds.

The Lighthouse wouldn’t work without the fearless performances by Robert Pattinson and Willem Dafoe. Winslow and Tom’s volatile relationship carries the film, and the two actors effortlessly swing back and forth between hostility and tender intimacy. They each throw their entire body into these roles, chewing the scenery with maniacal glee and nailing every crazy monologue thrown their way.

As the two men lose their grip on reality, Robert Eggers does an excellent job creating a hazy, claustrophobic environment that reflects their broken minds. The tight aspect ratio traps you in the confined spaces, and the moody black-and-white lighting shrouds the scenery in harsh shadows.

The film plays around with your perception of time and drops major hints that what you’re seeing may not be real.

Are the salty, psychosexual hallucinations brought on by Winslow’s guilty conscience or Tom’s gaslighting? Is Tom just a figment of Winslow’s imagination? The story leaves a lot to the audience’s imagination, and even if you don’t read too deep into the subtext, you can still enjoy The Lighthouse as a wild descent into madness.