But the screenplay is too weak to stand in a row with that meticulously crafted production design, cinematography, and acting.

I'm deeply impressed with visuals that authors developed for this film. It is something from another era, it's how the movie made in middle of 19th century could look like, if cinema was invented one century earlier.

Casting is fantastic. Loved the performances of both Defoe and Patisson. I heard that shooting conditions were really similar to what wee see on screen. It was cold, wet and miserable. And in cases like that you can truly appreciate the craft of an actor when they manages overcome the physical difficulties and deliver a believable character from another world. I'd like to be invested in those characters but they just fall flat in the end, and I didn't care about them both. Why?

So, the script... It was raw and undeveloped. It was all over the places: a bit of father/son drama, some Lovecraft visuals, some Greeks myths, some Shining. Not a clear quote in particular and not an original story by itself. The tone of jokes and quarrels was inconsistent and gave a hard time understanding the motivation of characters. This picture holds so much water that it soaks into the plot.

It's clearly a rushed script. Collage of madness that could work if had one core idea, that would shine through all this mess as a... yes, a lighthouse! But then it would be a work of genius. Because it's easy to shoot a fever dream, but it is extra hard to make a great story from kaleidoscope of bad dreams. The authors just put every ingredient they could, hoping that the atmosphere will bring it somewhere. But it didn't. And it's a pity.

The VVitch was simpler and more lucid in it's core, - in it's screenplay. And it worked much better in the end. VVitch is a solid movie with simple bold idea. And Lighthouse feels like a very ambitious student project. I rate it 5, because great production without good script is just half of a movie.

But I believe that Robert Eggers can still grow in one of the greatest directors of our time because the way he choose his projects it's a rare case in modern movie world. So I'll keep my searchlight on.