Let's start with the positive aspects of the film. Dafoe and Pattinson surely took these roles to chew scenery and flex their acting skill. They did. Eggers got the aesthetic right for what his story calls for, somewhere between the location and the camerawork.

Now...

On a basic level, I do not see the entertainment value in watching two men in isolation descend into madness. Adding binge drinking as a major element of a plot which is by no means complicated is just excessive.

Mechanically, the film relies on arthouse clichés. Moments of real tension are snuffed out with comedic lines. Sedentary shots of the characters looking into the camera carry on for too long. The script throws everything at the wall from 19th century quips and tantrums to full-on poetic curses that could have been taken from Classical literature.

It is a film that successfully puts upon the viewer the excruciating suffering that its characters endure over the course of the film.

If there is art I did not see it. If there was craft I could not grasp it. The horror was not scary. The humor was not funny. There seemed to be no method to its madness.

I heard another reviewer mention a relation to Greek mythology. I really could not be bothered to check it out because this film was THAT unpleasant.

I am writing this review after just finishing a second viewing thinking that maybe I missed something the first time. I enjoyed The VVitch and I generally enjoy A24's work of this nature. I will watch the director's next feature as I will take an original film any day over a sequel/prequel/reboot/re-imagining.

This film just did not work for me. On second viewing I dislike it even more.