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The Lighthouse is director Robert Eggers’ follow-up to his critically acclaimed feature début The Witch (2015). The film, set in North-East America during the 1890s, revolves around two lighthouse keepers, played by Robert Pattinson and Willem Dafoe, who get stranded in their remote location due to a storm. Cabin fever sets in and the two slowly begin to spiral towards insanity. 

This film is like nothing I have ever seen before. I don’t know what I expected going in, but I was absolutely mesmerised by pretty much every aspect of the film, starting with the two lead performances. Robert Pattinson continues to disassociate himself further and further from the Twilight franchise with what is a, quite frankly, startling turn here as the novice ‘wickie’ Winslow. He gives an exceptional physical performance (something which bodes well for his upcoming role as a certain caped crusader) as his character gets stuck with the hard labour – shovelling coal and scrubbing the floors, etc. – in maintaining the upkeep of the titular structure, while his more experienced partner, Thomas Wake (Dafoe), sits atop, watching the light. Winslow becomes more and more frustrated by the mundanity of his tasks, as well as his living conditions and treatment by Wake, and Pattinson plays this growing tension brilliantly, keeping a lid on it for the most part but allowing it to explode in a couple of truly shocking scenes. 

However, Pattinson’s performance is matched beat for beat by Dafoe, who, with his shaggy beard and intense stare, feels like he’s been plucked straight from a Herman Melville novel. The excellent screenplay – penned by Eggers along with his brother Max – gives Dafoe plenty of meaty dialogue to deliver, which he duly does in an unwavering old-style sailor’s accent that just stops short of falling into cliché. In providing advice to his new apprentice, he utters some of the most memorable lines of the year (“bad luck to kill a sea bird” and “don’t spill yer beans lad” instantly spring to mind), while also berating him for not liking his lobster meal in an astonishing monologue delivered with the force of the sea itself, not even taking a moment to blink. It looks unlikely at this time of writing that he will sneak into the Best Supporting Actor category at the Academy Awards, but this reviewer is still holding out hope.

Despite the film being primarily marketed as a horror (more psychological than jump scares), it is also hilarious at times, with most of the laughs drawn from the bizarre, homoerotic chemistry between Wake and Winslow. They spend their evenings drinking hooch – and when supplies run low, oil from the lighthouse – singing songs and dancing jigs, always one minor incident away from coming to blows. When they do fight, it’s over the most mundane things, such as Wake’s irrepressible flatulence; though at the heart of it, it is very much a power struggle. Alienated from the outside world, they have to put up with each other, and the claustrophobia of their situation is further captured by the unorthodox, box-like 1.19:1 aspect ratio, which challenges Eggers and director of photography, Jarin Blaschke, to cram everything into a smaller frame – special mention to Blaschke for the way he captures the rugged landscape in beautiful black and white, amid what were apparently very difficult filming conditions. The editing and sound design are used to great effect throughout too, particularly in emphasising the horror elements of the film. Quick cuts and long takes are used alternatively in different, albeit equally disturbing sequences, while the constant drone of the lighthouse maintains an ominous sense of dread.

The Lighthouse is not for everyone, and that’s okay. Not everyone is going to want to watch two crass individuals drink, fart, fight and masturbate (to fantasised mermaids, of course) their way through a two-hour film, which has little in the way of actual plot. However, for anyone willing to commit themselves, this really is a one-off film that Eggers has crafted. Furthermore, he never tries to spoon-feed his audience and the film really leaves itself open to multiple interpretations – with analyses ranging from Greek mythological readings, to Freudian psychoanalysis, and everything in between. Its conclusion includes one of my favourite closing shots in cinema that will live long in the memory of anyone who sees it. The film is a very rewarding experience due to this ambiguity, leaving the viewer with something to digest and debate with friends, rather than the cheap, empty thrills that populate much of contemporary horror cinema. Absolutely essential viewing for any cinephile or horror fan.

The Lighthouse is showing in Irish cinemas from 31 January.