The Lighthouse and Gothic Literary Tradition

Watching Robert Eggers’ The Lighthouse is a unique experience that left me in awe of its sea-myth strangeness. The premise involves two lighthouse workers or “wickes,” Thomas Wake (Willem Defoe) and Ephraim Winslow (Robert Pattinson), who get stranded on an island and eventually go mad. The film is steeped in Promethean myth with strong echoes of Poe and Melville (among others), creating a strong foundation that transports audiences to another time and place.