I’ll admit it…I only went for Robert Pattinson. But as soon as the movie began, I could tell it was going to be as far from Twilight as humanly possible.
Filmed in black and white, the movie follows the lives of two lighthouse keepers, stranded on a small island together for weeks on end. From the beginning it was clearly a recipe for anger, loneliness, sadness and a LOT of sexual frustration.
Pattinson plays a young man with a dark past, which sustains the tension as he and his mentor become increasingly sick of each other…just what is he capable of doing?
Dafoe’s character, Thomas Wake, speaks in a mix of Shakespearean rambling and manic incoherent outbursts. To say that listening to him was a wild ride would be an understatement.
We watch as Pattinson slowly loses his sanity and becomes angry and sexually frustrated in equal measure…not a good mix when you are on an island with one man you despise.
What follows is a mix of friendship and utter hatred, keeping viewers on the edge of their seats as they wonder whether the next contact will be a hug or a fatal blow.
The movie serves as a bleak portrayal of men in crisis, struggling to make a living and coping with life by drinking copiously. It was both violent and desperately sad in equal measure, with moments of hilarity scattered in with the moments of despair.
Both Dafoe and Pattinson are entirely convincing, and although I felt scarred for life afterwards, I couldn’t help but feel I’d seen an incredibly potent piece of cinema. This film is one that will haunt you for weeks after. Yet you feel like it was a movie you HAD to see.
However, if you want to preserve your childhood #TeamEdward love, maybe give it a miss. I guarantee you will never look at him the same again.