The Lighthouse

"The Lighthouse" takes place in a realm of stale cigarettes, flatulence, and commodes in cramped quarters, of terrible breath and dirty undergarments; a nineteenth-century society where toothbrushes have still not been created and there is no time traveler with a tube of Listerine. It's a rare film that leaves you feeling like you could actually smell the characters.

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"The Lighthouse," created and directed by Robert Eggers, was quite perfect in its entirety. To accentuate the sense of confinement, its aspect ratios are near to that of a cube. It's filmed in lustrous black and white hues, which lends the movie a detached feel, allowing magnificent use of light and darkness, and elevates the legendary, archetypal roles portrayed by Robert Pattinson and Willem Dafoe to mythic status. It throws two men against one another in a tough setting and forces them to engage in a psychological combat.

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All of these premises are beneficial — or might have been beneficial. However, after meticulously bringing a setting to life and immersing us in its reality, Eggers fails to provide the one thing that may have kept an audience's attention over the duration of 109 torturous minutes: a compelling tale. He provides us with nothing even resembling one. Hence, this piece just barely made it into the list.

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Director: Robert Eggers

Year of Release: 2019

IMDB Score: 7.5

Metascore: 83