The Lighthouse

Two salty sea dogs (Robert Pattinson and Willem Dafoe) manage the lighthouse on a remote island. A desolate, windy piece of rock where there’s nothing to do other than work and drink. The two surly colleagues make up for their lack of social graces with banter in the style of Herman Melville. Their inevitable recourse to the supplies of alcohol results in erotically charged tensions, violent outbursts and supernatural hallucinations.

Following the seventeenth-century horrors of his debut, The Witch, this time Robert Eggers presents a maritime nightmare set in the late nineteenth century. In sombre black-and-white and an almost square aspect ratio, The Lighthouse explores the claustrophobia of two vulnerable men condemned to one another. In this refined psychological horror, Eggers proves himself to be one of the most ambitious contemporary American genre filmmakers.

As part of Critics’ Choice, the screening of Thu 23 Jan, 16:15 will be preceded by a video essay from Kevin B. Lee at the opening of Critics' Choice On Collectivity VI.