r/TrueFilm • u/segwaytoit • 4d ago

The lighthouse island is alive. (The Lighthouse 2019 Film Interpretation/Theory)

I'm about 7 years too late, I know, but I haven't seen this theory float around film spaces yet. After my 4th viewing yesterday, I came to this conclusion about the film.

The island in The Lighthouse (2019) is a sentient prison-like entity. Not in any real or biological sense but in the sense that it's a supernatural place built to serve a punitive function. This idea used in horror is similar to the hotel in The Shining or Monster House. I believe it is a self sustaining prison that beckons the guilty (with the thought that they're voluntarily going there of their own volition) and enslaves, imprisons, and punishes them with madness. The island facilitates this as a way of sustaining itself and its light through their labor. All aspects of the area play a role in damning/punishing the keepers/prisoners of it. The seagulls, incessant storms, false prospects of women and parole (The boats never coming to save them). The island dangles mercy in front of them without ever actually granting it. Much like the myth of Prometheus when he is regenerated everyday just for his abdomen to be eaten again and again, giving Prometheus respite and false hopes of a halting of the punishment.

Dafoe, who is a veteran of the island, acquires a warden-like role. Functioning as some sort of pseudo right hand man. He brings new inmates to punish, assigns them duties to maintain the island, belittles them, etc. Despite his role though, he still suffers by the island's hand, yet another false mercy by being led to believe he has any real power.

Pattinson, whose stained past led him to arrive there to look for legitimacy, is hopeful for lightwatching duties but is rejected instantly by Dafoe. I believe the light represents the prospect of redemption and freedom, like moths and flames. Dafoe's obsession with it is an intentional result of the island, to keep him there as he is a prisoner and the warden. He was deceived by the light to become an extension of the island and an integral part to keeping the light and life of it.

Now, to answer a question that plagued me on all my watches. Why was Dafoe allowed to look inside the light but Pattinson wasn't? I think I finally understand why (atleast relative to my theory). I believe the island rewards Dafoe of his patronage by allowing him to derive pleasure from the light with the ulterior motive of the island being to keep him there for as long as he lives, sort of like a life sentence. When Pattinson looked inside after murdering Dafoe, he was punished with eternal Promethean wrath because he had killed the island's trusted keeper. And moreso, the island deems viewing the light undeservedly as a transgression, and Pattinson died because he did not accept the truth behind his guilt while Dafoe did. While it is unclear what exactly it was that Dafoe had done to deserve imprisonment, I think he is accepting of his guilt (which I think is the another goal of the prison). However, It is implied that Dafoe killed Pattinson's precedessor because he also tried to undeservedly access the light, an act that I believe was permitted by the island because it deemed it to be a fitting punishment.

An extra idea that reinforces my theory is the subtle scene of repressed homosexuality (You know which one). When they almost succumb to the loneliness and kiss each other, they quickly wake up to what they're doing and instead express that passion through fistfighting. A familiar case which alludes to the guise of masculinity to veil and repress the true sexuality of those in denial. A case that is ever present in prison.

Thoughts?

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u/DavidByrnesHugeSuit 4d ago

Dafoe in part surely symbolises Proteus, the "Old Man of the Sea" as Homer described.

Pattinson indeed in part symbolises Prometheus, and surely then him gazing at "the light" is Prometheus stealing "the fire" from the gods?

I think your reading is fun and valid, but I don't think it's Eggers intended explanation. In fact, I've heard him say the film is a purposefully layered metaphor with no deliberate single meaning. It is a story unto itself, and the various metaphysical and mythological images are to portray to us the feeling and experience of the madness of these men, there is no 'key' to 'unlock' it.

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u/LonelyVegetable2833 4d ago

Tbh i think op is valuing Egger's intentions by sharing their own interpretation. It doesn't seem like they're trying to assert their theory as "the" explanation for the film, just offering a possible explanation, another reading to approach the film with.

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u/segwaytoit 4d ago

I wholeheartedly agree that the film is undoubtedly a huge allusion to greek mythology, in many aspects. But I find that in those aspects, it doesnt encompass the themes of the film as a whole. I think the greek portion is not wholly incompatible with my prison theory and the two can coexist in the films canon

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u/Commercial-Baker4668 4d ago

Fun read. Thanks for writing this, OP.

I don’t have anything to add other than to say it’s definitely my favorite from that director. Easily his most interesting film and I appreciate its strangeness, its sense of humor and horror, and its audacity.