If you’re a fan of horror films, or just films in general, 2019 is a special year for a number of reasons. However, in the realm of scares, this year marks the return of three directors with their highly-anticipated sophomore efforts. First, in March, we had Jordan Peele’s “Get Out” follow-up film, “Us,” which got good reviews and has made a ton of money at the box office. In July, “Hereditary” filmmaker Ari Aster returns with his second film, “Midsommar.” And rounding out the trio of sophomore directors is Robert Eggers and his new film “The Lighthouse.”
After his 2015 film, ‘The Witch,” many have been anxious to see what Eggers has up his sleeve for his follow-up, which is set to premiere at this year’s Directors’ Fortnight section of Cannes. We know it’s still a genre film, toying with horror like his previous work. But according to Willem Dafoe, calling “The Lighthouse” a horror film sells it a bit short.
As mentioned, “The Lighthouse” stars Dafoe, who plays an aging lighthouse keeper named Old. He is joined by another man, played by Robert Pattinson. And from there, things get a little crazy, apparently. Paolo Moretti, the director of the Cannes’ Directors’ Fortnight, described the movie as a “hypnotic two-hander.”
“It was very, very tough physically, but that was kind of the point,” Dafoe said of the film’s production in a new interview with IndieWire.
According to the interview, Dafoe was interested in working with Eggers after seeing “The Witch,” and was all ready to star in a project. However, that film fell apart, but Eggers kept Dafoe in his grasp when he began developing “The Lighthouse.”
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“It’s less ‘Friday the 13th’ and more Tarkovsky,” Dafoe said about Eggers’ latest. “With genre movies, you can use a very beautiful cinematic language and still make a movie that appeals to a wide audience, because you give them something to hang onto, and they’re willing to receive this unfamiliar language without rejecting it.”
So far, everything we’ve learned about “The Lighthouse” makes us want to see this film ASAP. And if you’re going to Cannes this year, you may be lucky enough to do that. For the rest of us, however, we’re going to have to wait until A24 releases the film in theaters later this year.