The Lighthouse (I) (2016) User Reviews

The same stuff happens in all movies...

[chet19 · 6/10 · 10 June 2019]

I'll be the first one to admit that I have never been stranded or isolated. But if I ever were isolated like that, I promise you that I would not start talking to a volleyball. Or to a dead body. Or to a... You get the idea. This Lighthouse movie offers nothing original in the old "descent in to madness" genre. But there are some worse, major puzzling moments too, which makes this among the worst Survivalist movies ever!!

Like when they first arrive, they take inventory, and they have something like 50 lbs of rice, 50 lbs of beef, and 75 lbs of chicken. Something like that. Then later, the screen shows they are on "Day 31" of their job, and the two men are talking about their rations are low and they need to be relieved asap. So in the course of only one month, these men ate 175 pounds of food?? That's about 3 pounds of food each day for each man. Their drinking water was "dangerously low," and yet it was raining for a week straight. Just go outside and collect the rainwater. They find a crate with a dozen bottles of booze. Over the next week (about 40 minutes of movie time) they show the men drinking in every single scene. The booze seems to last forever, and yet the food/water disappeared without a trace. Silly writing.

And you thought YOUR job sucked

[myriamlenys · 5/10 · 9 March 2019]

Two men are sent to a remote island - well, to a remote heap of rocks - in order to man a lighthouse. Both men don't like or trust each other too much, with the result that their relationship devolves into a series of silences, quarrels and reconciliations. After a while the stocks begin to run low. A towering gale means that no relief crew, however brave or enterprising, will be able to make it to the island...

"The lighthouse" is a psychological horror movie about the ravages of isolation and confinement. It's got its assets, such as a dark theme, a stunning set plus location and good acting, but it rarely becomes truly chilling or riveting. This may be explained by its length : there is just not enough story to sustain a full-length movie. A bit of change and incident might have helped, too. It's a pretty safe bet that some of the viewers too will begin to suffer from cabin fever...

I was unfamiliar with the tragic incident which inspired the movie, but I had heard the tale about the triple disappearance which occurred in the Flannan Isles, in Scotland. People interested in this story may want to read the "Flannan Isle" poem written by Wilfred Gibson. The least one can say is that it does not encourage young people to seek out employment as a lighthouse keeper on a far distant island.

Cabin fever movie

[ivan_dmitriev · 5/10 · 12 April 2019]

Basically that's it - it's a movie about a classic case of cabin fever when two people turn on each other due to isolation and stress, based on real events, but an otherwise unremarkable flick.

Weird and Moody Historical Movie (Very Minor Spoilers)

[Sawyer-4815162342 · 4/10 · 22 November 2017]

This story of 2 lighthouse keepers (set in 1801) feels like it has the potential to be good, but eventually lets the viewer down.

Not much happens in the first third. Just 2 guys in a lighthouse, basically. And it ends up being the best act. The two main characters don't say much and I think that might be why it's the best part of the movie. No offense to the actors, but I feel like as the movie progressed and the script called for increasingly demanding performances the actors fell a little short.

In the 2nd act a storm hits and things start getting a little weird. The characters find a hidden stash of whiskey and get drunk a lot. I expected more of a "man vs nature/the elements" aspect to this movie. Instead, it's more about 2 guys, some whiskey and a decent into madness.

The 3rd act was so weird that I started to lose interest. Without giving any specific spoilers, the decent into madness I mentioned earlier ends up consuming the whole movie. The storm and the lack of supplies are hardly addressed.

The tone and look of the movie are dark. Lots of low light situations where it's a little hard to see whats going on on the screen. It's hard to describe, but the feel of the movie is just weird The movie also contain some pretty bad dialogue clichés. Mentioning them would be hard to do without spoilers, but I'll just say the script was weak in some places.

Lastly, I want to know how a light house in 1801 had some sort of gear-driven rotating mechanism. It was never shown or explained how such a thing works. For a movie called "The Lighthouse" I would have liked to learn more about the actual lighthouse. It sounds weird to me too, but during the boring parts I found myself wondering about that. Might have to google it later.

Overall, although I wanted to like this movie, the beginning made me think it had potential, but sadly that potential got thrown in the trash as the movie got weirder and darker. I could only recommend this to someone who is in the mood for weirdness and lunacy, and doesn't mind the times that the scrip or acting fall a little short.

Underrated

[johngra-88986 · 7/10 · 23 May 2022]

This film wasn't bad at all. Great acting, atmospheric and based on reality. I watched this wondering when Willem Defoe would make an appearance. Will watch that next. I don't know what some people expect from films.

20 minutes ruined a decent film.

[spikeneil-84-836952 · 4/10 · 12 May 2018]

It was a very enjoyable film and then the final 20-30 minutes killed it for me. Religious nonsense certainly has a way of ruining everything!!

Eeerie

[Pairic · 7/10 · 10 March 2019]

The Lighthouse: Based on a true story, the events occurred in 1801 when two keepers were cut off on an offshore Lighthouse for months by a freak storm. Atmosphere is everything in this film, the silence, then the quarrelling. Food runs low. One of the keepers dies but seems to haunt the other. Or is it just imagination/hallucinations? The surviving keeper already blames himself for the deaths of six sailors when he fell asleep and let the light go out at another lighthouse. 7/10.

It starts with 8 film company logos going on for 2 minutes...

[contact-282 · 5/10 · 11 April 2020]

Since it's shot in one room basically with two actors doing pretty much nothing, why were there 8 companies involved? Did each one take on the movie and realize what a drag it was and passed it on to another?

I stayed for the atmosphere as I watched this movie slowly but steadily lose any purpose with every passing minute and turn into nothing.

Slow and Methodical

[ranels-71802 · 6/10 · 2 July 2019]

This movie, while based on true events, is slow and methodical in it presentation. Yes it is about two lighthouse keepers stuck in a lighthouse 25 miles from land off the coast of Ireland. It basically portrays them going crazy due to months of isolation.

A very modest beam

[shakercoola · 4/10 · 3 March 2019]

A British drama; A story inspired by a true event in 1801, about two men in an isolated lighthouse on The Smalls - a forbidding cluster of basalt rocks 25 miles off the Welsh coast. It's glum, bleak and the narrative leads to the macabre but ultimately it's a dour and disappointing drama. It's not difficult to create drama with a two hander in a lighthouse but the director makes hard work of it. The two characters are given no real backstory so the actors are left to create what comes across as unexplained moodiness, skulking, and foreboding music for the first half hour. What is said adds very little, already telegraphed by their facial expressions. Trite lines are repeated, like "until the job is done" referring to inclement weather, and "we have a job to do", which doesn't come as a surprise for the persevering viewer.

Deep and dark

[Aberbrothock · 8/10 · 26 March 2019]

Great reflection of a true story of two lighthouse keepers coping when a terrible storm struck. Well presented with a magical relationship between them albeit belligerent at times. It shows how difficult the life of a lighthouse keeper was and the good work they did to save lives of passing boats and ships.

Could have been better, but...

[Marc_Action · 6/10 · 16 November 2020]

The Lighthouse tells the tale of two lighthouse keepers who descend into madness when their offshore lighthouse is hit by a nasty storm that leaves the two men stranded without much rations and little chance of rescue until the persistent storm ends.

Let me say right of the bat that the best things about this film are definitely the acting, character interaction, and dialogue once it gets going--which is why when one of our lighthouse keepers dies in a freak accident mid-way through, The Lighthouse begins to dim (pun intended) in it's ability to hold my attention any further. Sure, it was very chilling to watch the remaining keeper descend even further into madness isolated all alone, but I feel the remaining story could have been told more effectively in less time.

Another negative about this film is the rushed editing. For instance, in one scene you'll see the two rush up to the tower to fix the light broken by (I assume) lightning during the ragging storm, only for the film to cut away to the two men back in the living quarters having a meal about 10 seconds after we just saw them risking life and limb out in the elements trying to fix the light. Like, what? You have one of the most suspenseful things to happen in the movie totally diminished by an abrupt cutaway back to an anticlimactic scene at the dinner table? This movie already has more than its fair share of dry, boring patches throughout, then the director neuters the parts that need more screen time while dragging out parts that should have gotten less. Sheeesh.

6 stars for the acting.

Cheap and boring

[Leofwine_draca · 3/10 · 12 March 2019]

THE LIGHTHOUSE is a cheap and boring drama that follows the mental disintegration of two lighthouse keepers affected by isolation and the rigours of their job. It sounds interesting and is based on a true story, but the execution here is horrible. You get long-winded conversations and back stories from two very dull characters interspersed with the occasional poor-quality green-screen outdoor effect. The monster flick COLD SKIN is much, much more interesting.

The wrong Lighthouse

[chrisbender-14532 · 1/10 · 3 March 2020]

After watching The Lighthouse with Robert Pattinson and William Daffoe, this movie pales in comparison. But it's kind of fun to see the small similarities and how Robert Eggers direction makes for a far more interesting story on so many levels.

It sheds little light

[Prismark10 · 2/10 · 4 March 2019]

This is effectively a two hander about two misfits talking and drinking in a gloomy isolated lighthouse.

It is inspired by a true incident but takes a left turn. Set in 1801, in a lighthouse 25 miles off the Welsh coast and in the Irish sea, Thomas Howell (Michael Jibson) joins the incumbent keeper Thomas Griffith (Mark Lewis Jones.)

Both are guilty about past losses. Griffith has lost family, Howell has lost men. They might each be blameable for it.

Howell is a religious god fearing man. Griffiths is an atheist. Stormy weather has cut off the men, as they drink the relationship between them becomes tense, both men brood.

The Lighthouse is a downbeat psychological thriller. The place they are hemmed in is metaphysical. It is purgatory for their sins. There will be no escape from The Lighthouse.

The film never really maintained my interest. It is acted well by the two leads but it just felt like a stage play. The twist at the end gives it more credibility than it deserves.

A No go my Bruddah

[sammyboyforde · 5/10 · 31 October 2019]

Just awful tbf.... thatwastoshortrandomlettersqwerty

Waste of time

[grandmove · 2/10 · 28 November 2019]

The most boring movie I've ever watched in my entire life.

Underrated; Haunting

[TNSGVR · 8/10 · 7 September 2020]

This really is a superbly cast and very well acted film, that psychologically grips us from imagining ourselves in the situations. I am shocked by the aggregate review; it ought to be much higher.

The film is based on a true story, but if you're looking for a light film this is not it.

It haunts so much that I still think of it 4 years after its release.

I Fail to See the Light - The Lighthouse

[arthur_tafero · 5/10 · 9 January 2019]

This is a story about Nature vs. god - Nature wins. Unfortunately, the man who believed in nature dies from a freak accident (or did god strike him down?). Religious nuts will believe that god struck him down. The bible-thumper survives somehow (with the help of a god?) . Religious nuts will believe that some god delivers him......into a permanent state of insanity. Talk about lose-lose propositions. I think the atheist who favored nature was right; better to shoot yourself. People in prison were better off than these blokes. Not inspirational in any way. Not scary in any way. Could have been much better if a little literary license was taken and the atheist was kept alive (he was so drunk he might have survived a hanging and a few days in the rain) to get back in the lighthouse. Then the film would have been interesting. Otherwise nature always wins. The wrong guy had the accident.

Leave it at the bottom of the ocean

[AdrenalinDragon · 3/10 · 11 March 2021]

Having seen Robert Eggers' The Lighthouse in 2019, I was curious to see what this Lighthouse had to offer as it was three years earlier. Unfortunately, it's basically the same thing but way more conventional and far less interesting on a story and technical level.

Having two characters with very little personality and intrigue means most of the time the conversations are boring and lack any punch. A significant event that occurs in this film ironically makes the whole thing even more boring. The madness element is not really done in any exciting way, the set designs are passable at best and any attempted scares/weirdness fail to leave any lasting impression at all.

So if you're a fan of the 2019 The Lighthouse, I'd suggest you stay away from this one. There's no standout performances, no interesting visuals, nothing really to talk about after you've finished, and it's just dull as dishwater honestly. I've already forgotten almost everything about this film, but the 2019 Lighthouse still sticks with me. Not the worst watch in the whole wide world I'll give it that, but otherwise lame and kind of bad.

3/10

It gnaws, and not in a good way

[waleed-53165 · 4/10 · 27 October 2019]

I'm all for lonely atmospheric character based stories but despite a promising start this movie doesn't explore an interesting (though not very unique) story. In the end it feels repetitive, predictable and drawn out, even tho the acting is ok. Could have been 40 minutes shorter.

Confused this with The Lighthouse 2019 - Wasted 2 hours

[michaelan-92852 · 1/10 · 1 November 2020]

Thought this was the great movie which was recommended to me by multiple people, ended up spending 2 hours watching a movie with absolutely no storyline, horrible dialouge, with unlikeable characters that had no depth to them.

A big let down

[ten-thousand-marbles · 4/10 · 26 March 2020]

It's starts off quite good. Solid characters and performances, weaving and interesting story. There is a major turn of events for the characters, at which point the appeal is quickly lost. I was just shaking my head at the end. Had any semblance of a story been maintained, it would have been a good flick.

What is scariest about this movie? It's true!

[shagee7977 · 9/10 · 9 June 2018]

BAFTA-award winning supernatural thriller THE LIGHTHOUSE, starring Michael Jibson (Hunter Killer, Beauty and the Beast) and Mark Lewis Jones (Star Wars : The Last Jedi, "Game of Thrones"), hits theaters and VOD this July.

2 lighthouse keepers are stuck on an island during a raging storm for months. Food and rations are low and there sanity is getting the best of them.

This is Open Water in a lighthouse. Claustrophobia and atmospheric brings this suspenseful movie to the screen.

The movie starts off normal enough and just escalates into pure madness. Dark stormy nights test the sanity of the two man n characters in there quest for sanity and to continue guiding ship in the historic 1801 storm.

What makes this scarier is it's based on true events. The actors who play the two Toms do a tremendous and convincingly accurate portrayal of two frightened men as they descended into madness.

When the storm clears what will be left of these men mentally.

A true human survival story, excellently executed and beautifully filmed as the angry Irish Sea plays the main role.

What makes this scarier...it's based on a true story!

A true horror story!

Directed by Chris Crow, and nominated for five BAFTA awards including Best Director and Best Actor, winning Best Visual Effects, THE LIGHTHOUSE opens in select theaters July 6and VOD July 10.

Tale of 2 Thomas', a Lighthouse & a Storm

[Rainey-Dawn · 8/10 · 15 December 2021]

A great depiction of what might have happened those days the 2 men, both named Thomas, were watching the lighthouse and the seemly never ending storm that struck.

While their month long stay as lighthouse keepers was ending a horrific storm beared down on the lighthouse for days. Their supplies were almost out (food, clean water and lamp oil) and a ship will not sail into this awful storm to bring the new keepers and let the 2 Thomas' go home. These 2 men have to wait it out at the cost of their lives and sanity.

Impressive film - I highly enjoyed this one!

8.5/10.