Dafoe and Pattinson were cast in February 2018. Adapting the story proved difficult, so after Robert joined, the project evolved into a period horror-thriller with the Poe elements largely removed.

The genre has been debated the film has been alternately described as a horror film, a psychological thriller, a survival film, and a character study.ĭevelopment began as Max's attempt to create a contemporary take on Edgar Allan Poe's unfinished story ' The Light-House'. Set in the 1890s, it stars Willem Dafoe and Robert Pattinson as two lighthouse keepers who descend into madness when a storm strands them on the remote island where they are stationed.

The Lighthouse is a 2019 film directed and produced by Robert Eggers, who co-wrote the screenplay with his brother, Max Eggers.