The Lighthouse

In The Lighthouse, the latest from The Witch director Eggers, maintaining the lenses and mechanics of a 19th century lighthouse is lonely, grueling work. When Ephraim (Pattinson) learns that he can make upwards of a thousand dollars on a North Atlantic rock, he packs up his previous life and heads to sea. There he meets experienced wickie Thomas (Dafoe), and it isn’t long before distrust sets in. The Lighthouse is an interesting movie; it’s the performances that make it a good one. Everything starts with Pattinson. He is hardly the first actor to combine leading-man looks with character-actor instincts, but in Ephraim he conjures a diseased mind who believes he’s just a few weeks’ hard work away from stepping back into the good graces of society.