The Lighthouse is one of the most talked-about films of the year and for good reason. The atmospheric horror film is the second feature from Robert Eggers (The Witch) and stars Robert Pattinson and Willem Dafoe as lighthouse keepers stuck together on a small island. As a storm prevents any relief from the mainland their sanity begins to come undone.
The film is engrossing thanks to the two performances, the unique look of the film and the mysterious story. It is the kind of movie that requires you to pick it apart and contemplate what you just experienced for days after seeing it. Here are some of the biggest burning questions we have about The Lighthouse.
Was The Mermaid Real?
It’s hard to tell exactly when these characters begin to lose their grip on reality or if some of the more insane moments actually happened. One the first night on the island, Ephraim (Pattinson) dreams of seeing a mermaid in the water. Much later in the film, Ephraim finds a mermaid washed up on the island’s rocks and emitting a horrible taunting scream as he runs away in terror.
While it would be easy to dismiss these moments as part of Ephraim’s madness, Thomas does make mention of his previous assistant making similar claims. Could the mermaid be real and potentially responsible for driving Ephraim mad or was it all in his head?
What Was With The Seagull?
While most of the movie centers around the conflict between these two men forced to share such a small space, Ephraim also finds himself tormented by a peculiar one-eyed seagull. The seagull seems to take an immediate disliking to Ephraim and the feeling is mutual.
The bird keeps showing up and seemingly provoking Ephraim. Despite Thomas’ warnings against killing seagulls, Ephraim dispatches it in brutal fashion. Yet the final scene of the film suggests the seagull is not as dead as it seemed and that it has the last laugh. Was that the same one-eyed bird? Was it some mystical being who cursed Ephraim and is responsible for him going mad?
Did Thomas Really Kill His Other Assistant?
Both Thomas and Ephraim seem to be keeping a lot of secrets inside that slowly come out as the story continues. Thomas makes frequent mention of his previous assistant who apparently went mad, similar to what seems to be happening to Ephraim. However, Ephraim later finds a lobster trap with a human head inside which he believes belonged to the former assistant.
It’s difficult to gauge Thomas’ reaction when confronted with this accusation. Is he a guilty man who has been found out, or is he concerned about Ephraim’s further slide into insanity?
How Long Were They Stranded?
In one of the movie’s most intriguing scenes, Thomas seems to call out Ephraim’s descent into madness by asking him how long they’ve been on the island. But the same way Ephraim has seemingly lost track of time, we the audience are also disoriented.
Thomas claims it has been weeks since they were supposed to get picked up by the relief crew, but Ephraim thinks it was only yesterday. Though Thomas claims lighthouse keepers have spent months stranded by a storm, that sounds like more of his tall tales of the sea. Could they really have been stranded for weeks without rescue or was that just what Thomas wanted him to think?
Was The Liquor To Blame?
For much of his stay on the island, Ephraim refuses to drink liquor with Thomas, despite having only disgusting water to drink instead. However, on the night before he is supposed to leave the island, he decides to indulge. Of course, he doesn’t get picked up the next day and the two men continue drinking excessively.
Though there was certainly weird stuff happening beforehand, once Ephraim begins drinking everything seems to spiral downward. Could there have been something in Thomas’ liquor that caused the men to lose their minds?
How Much Was In Ephraim’s Mind?
The movie does a fantastic job of taking the audience along on Ephraim’s nightmarish journey. In the end, we feel as crazy as he does and begin question what is real or if any of it was real. Thomas seems to be suggesting that Ephraim is doing things that he does not remember and we don’t see. This makes us question everything we’ve seen before.
If we are seeing things only from Ephraim’s perspective, what’s to say that the whole thing isn’t just in his head? The escalation of the movie could only be his mind becoming more deranged.
Was Thomas Lying?
It’s pretty clear from the very beginning that these two men are far from normal but there is some question as to which one is the crazier one. While Thomas seems eccentric from the start, we see Ephraim losing his grip with reality more and more as the film goes on.
However, there is some question as to whether or not Ephraim is really going mad or if Thomas is convincing him that he is. Thomas keeps claiming Ephraim is behaving erratically but we never see it. We even see Thomas chase Ephraim with an ax before claiming it was Ephraim who chased him. Are we seeing only what’s in Ephraim’s mind or is Thomas lying?
Did Thomas Have Powers?
Unlike Ephraim, Thomas seems to be a big believer in the tales and legends of the sea. In fact, he seems to live his life by these stories, like taking the murdering of a seagull very seriously. The movie also hints that Thomas might have some special connection to the gods of the sea.
After Ephraim insults Thomas’ cooking, the older man epically curses him in the name of King Triton. We also see tentacles in the lighthouse with Thomas when Ephraim spies on him. This could be Ephraim’s mind playing tricks, or is the old man able to summon the sea gods?
What Happened To Ephraim?
The movie does a wonderful job of mixing the old sea legends with classic Greek mythology. There are clear parallels between this story and the story of Prometheus. In that tale, a god stole fire from the gods and was cursed to be eaten alive by birds. Ephraim seems to have suffered a similar fate by the end of the film.
But what happened to Ephraim that left him dying, naked on the rocks as the seagulls eat him? Was it the light that did this to him, or did this happen earlier and the movie has largely been told inside his dying mind?
What Was In The Light?
The biggest question the film leaves open is what is actually in the light at the top of the lighthouse. Thomas insists that he is the only one who can be up there and seems to guard it intensely. His obsession over the light begins to make Ephraim equally obsessed.
This becomes a major point of contention between the men. Finally, with Thomas dead, Ephraim goes up to the light only to be overpowered and horrified by what he finds which leaves him blind and near death. What power did the light hold that drew these men to it and almost killed Ephraim?
