The Lighthouse: My Thoughts on the Ending

We did it guys, we won. Robert Pattinson is taken seriously as an actor. I'll always have a soft spot for him because Cedric Diggory was one of my favorite characters in Harry Potter.Because, whew, a man.I went into The Lighthouse with high hopes because Robert Eggers, the director, also made The VVitch. I can't remember if that movie was something I spoke about on here, but it is the movie that made me aware of A24. We stan Spring Breakers in this house, but I guess not enough to know that was the first movie I saw from A24.

The Lighthouse is not like Spring Breakers, it's not like The VVitch. It's not even like Midsommar, another movie from A24. It's completely different. Spring Breakers was a commentary on modern American culture and in my opinion brought rise to the stylistic flexing we see on instagram today.And I also think it's a lot about the pressure to do (bad) things for YOLO purposes and why that is not always a good thing.There's even a little toxic femininity in there, but I' sure y'all aren't ready for that conversation.  The VVitch was a folktale about  familial scapegoats (I swear, I tried to think of another word) and female empowerment. Midsommar was ultimately about the gas-lighting one can feel in a toxic relationship, been there, sis. These movies are all quite female centric.I feel like these three movies highlight the female experience at different points in our lives. Sure, men are in these films, but you know, they are mostly about women. Not to be a hater or anything, but I think that's why I enjoyed these films so much. How many horror films are very...Male-y? Too many! At first I was like "Do I really want to listen to two men talk for like two hours?" But I'm so glad I saw this movie, because it was not what I expected.

The Lighthouse is different. It's two men, in the middle of the ocean, living in a lighthouse. And you know what, I'm just going to say it, I guess we all owe Freud an apology because the lighthouse Ephraim and Thomas are in is obviously a phallic symbol. There is a conversation to be had about the toxic masculinity that was in the film. In a way, maybe The Lighthouse is a distant cousin to Spring Breakers.  Is that a Hot Take™? Whatever, I don't care.
 But, I wanted to discuss the very different ideas I had about the ending. So, you know the drill, spoilers ahead.

So, the movie ends with Thomas going bonkers after a slow burn of claustraphoic conditions that include
-Ephraim killing a seagull, which Thomas believes to be a reincarnated sailor

-Ephraim admitting he is NOT Ephraim and just straight up stole someone's identity.And probably their life too.

-Ephraim stealing a mermaid statue to uh, relieve himself. Btw this is the THIRD movie I've seen Robert Pattinson masturbate and I, frankly, have had enough. The BDE is overwhelming at this point. We get it, sir. He may or may not have had sex with a mermaid as well.

-Them missing the rescue and have to be on the island/in the lighthouse longer than expected

So, after "Ephraim" finds Thomas' notes on their stay in the lighthouse and finds out that Thomas is talking mad sh*t, they get into a fight which ends with them both dead.  Ephraim kills Thomas after a very intense struggle. Where Thomas is looked at as a sea monster and

 "Ephraim" makes his way to the top of the lighthouse and looks into the light and falls. He eventually dies pretty friggin expressive about whatever he saw in the light of the lighthouse and the movie ends with the seagulls eating "Ephraim's" insides. Which, fair enough because he killed that seagull earlier.

The ending left me feeling kind of weird. There was no good guy or bad guy. They were just guys. Ephraim was cute (sorry) but he did steal the original Ephraim's identity, kill a seagull, and just a lot of other literal mermaid f*ckery. Despite all of that I did kind of sympathize with him because just imagining me being confined in a space with some weird old person just sounds stressful.
On the other hand, I felt like Thomas' ending was undeserving. I know that he was a weird old dude, but maybe he was a good person when he was young. Maybe being alone in the lighthouse for so long that he lost his mind. Which would technically not be his fault.

I know that there is an official explanation from the filmmaker himself on the ending, but I had other ideas.

My first idea, Thomas is in some sort of Hell or Purgatory. Thomas died a long time ago and he has to be killed over and over again to atone for killing the original second lighthouse keeper (called a wickie). I have a cold right now so I wasn't completely paying attention to the scene where he is talking about the original wickie outside of the fact that he died. If a name was not given, I'm sure the name was probably  Howard, which is why Thomas was so mad that Ephraim/Thomas Howard "spilled his beans". I remember them repeating that line in the trailer and it getting creepier and creepier each time he said it to the point I would randomly think about it and be like #yikes. This time, Thomas Wake and Thomas Howard are dead. And Thomas Wake was able to go to heaven (or hell, who knows) because the cycle has finally completed.


My second is well, Fight Club meets Cast Away. Ephraim/Thomas Howard does not exist and it's just one man's further descent into madness. I want to watch the movie again to get more #proof for this. But it would explain why Thomas Wake was so mad that Ephraim's name was also Thomas. Also Thomas Wake destroyed the boat so neither of them could leave. Young Thomas represents Old Thomas' guilt in life. To be fair, I had doubts that Faith (Selena Gomez) character in Spring Breakers was real and just represented the last of the other girls "goodness"/faith. So who knows? Not me.

My third idea, Ephraim is in Purgatory. Ok, so hear me out. This is the one I believe in the most because it ties into Robert Egger's view of the movie HE made. Eggers says that the characters are based on the Greek figures Prometheus and Proteus. Prometheus is best known for giving man the knowledge of fire and metalwork. For this incredible gift to mankind, Zeus thee Thot punishes Prometheus by chaining him to a rock and having an eagle eat his liver....since Prometheus is a God, he can't die. So he is basically tortured for like, ever. Some stories have him unchained by Heracles but I guess that is up to interpretation.
 Howard falls after seeing the light. The new "what's in the briefcase" is now "What did Howard see in the light?" You know what I think he saw? Nothing. There was no *literal* light, not after killing Wake. Because Eggars saw Wake as Proteus, the old prophetic man of the sea. He knew a lot, and in the tradition of Homer he was an ornery old man that did not like telling people anything.
I think Howard is being punished for the killing of Ephraim.Him looking into the "light" made him realize this And it was all too much for him to handle.  His fall was deliberate in an attempt to get it all to end. But, that's not how the afterlife works. He is now doomed to be repeatedly eaten by the seagulls (sailors in purgatory imo) that bothered him so much.

Also, more movies need to be made in black and white because even though the movie has some disturbing parts I was like wow, this is beautiful bro.