Some might find Robert Eggers’ way of direction weird. However, with the ambiguity implied in his movies, the features always take an interesting turn, making them some of the most engrossing movies ever released in Hollywood. Even though he only has three feature films on his credit list, Eggers has established a brand for the kind of movies he designs and directs. And it’s okay to say that they always leave an impact on the audience.
Due to his keen knowledge as a production designer, as outlined by Format, Eggers carefully studies his plot and presents the best visuals on-screen. Known for incorporating folkore elements, the American filmmaker has also served as a co-writer for a couple of his projects. His films need to be seen since they always carry a voice, and here are the best Roger Eggers’ movies, ranked.
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3 The Northman (2022)
Regency Enterprises
A recent release from Eggers, The Northman is a bold and brutal tale of a Viking prince filled with the desire to avenge his father’s murder and free his mother from his uncle’s grasp. Adapted from the legend of Amleth, which also is an inspiration behind Shakespeare’s Hamlet, The Northman features a star-studded cast, gruesome imagery, violent action, and a beautiful representation of the Viking culture.
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Amleth (played by Alexander Skarsgård) is a headstrong and reckless prince who has vowed to regain his kingdom from his devil paternal uncle, Fjölnir (Claes Bang). This being the center of the plot, the audience is continuously introduced to his horrid ways of reaching his goal of ultimately murdering his uncle.
It’s clear that Eggers continued to produce the esoteric genre, which he masters in, with The Northman. Most of the aspects of the film are exceptionally carried by the cast and crew. The depiction of Norse mythology themes, the emotion-filled dialogues and performance delivered by the cast, the costume designing, and the direction are unsurprisingly the film-leading components. However, the Norse period feature lacks in a certain arena. Although the stellar cast did their best to elevate the plot with their performances, the one-dimensional characters in the film did not feel real. More significantly, it becomes difficult for the audience to empathize with Amleth, which is a crucial factor to draw in the viewers until the very end of the film. At any rate, The Northman is still a work of technical perfection by Eggers, which besides its tiny imperfection, lures in the audiences with a magnificent cinematography, engrossing soundtrack, and top-notch cast performances.
2 The Lighthouse (2019)
Regency Enterprises
With its ability to get the audience both excited and scared at the same time, The Lighthouse is a gripping psychological horror film, featuring a psychedelic drama between two strange men. The film revolves around a young man (played by Robert Pattinson) and his extremely unlikable superior partner (played by William Dafoe), two lighthouse keepers stationed on a remote island in England in the 1890s.
During their four-week job of trading sea shanties and maintaining the lighthouse, what keeps them sane is their instability and wilderness. It’s hard to understand the relationship between the two. They clearly exhibited melancholy, isolation, and madness in the black and white feature, with the square screen technique adapted by Eggers enhancing the dark nature of the film. The Lighthouse slowly unfolds with its many aspects — delirium, fever dream, the burden of aloneness, the wild situation, and unexpected tension —and delivers a 100-minute creation brilliantly on a sliver platter.
The Lighthouse has multiple metaphors complimenting the unusual scenes in the film. Meanwhile, the unbalanced imagery requires rewatches which, at all times, will provide a series of fresh and untouched thoughts. Dafoe and Pattinson, without any other star in the picture, portrayed a claustrophobic horror thriller exceptionally well. On top of it, the heavy focus on the loud sound, which slowly becomes a part of the film, draws more attention towards the twisted nature of the film. The Lighthouse is undoubtedly one of the finest, unique, and engrossing psychological thrillers of recent time.
1 The Witch (2015)
Universal Pictures
With The Witch, Eggers made his directorial debut and also wrote the film, introducing his one-of-a-kind filmmaking to the world. Set in the 1600s in England, the Sundance prize-winning film is a worthy psychological thriller horror and offers much more than typical Hollywood violence- and bloodshed-filled film.
Like other Eggers’ films, The Witch also stands on the grounds of religion, horror, and thriller, which, from the very start, encompass the characters and plot of the film beautifully. It follows the story of a Puritan family who get kicked out of their village over a religious argument, and later get embroiled in witchcraft, black magic, and a sinful series of events. Anya Taylor-Joy, Ralph Ineson, Kate Dickie, Julian Richings, Harvey Scrimshaw, and more play primary roles in Eggers’ debut film.
Shot entirely with natural light or with lighted candles, per Variety, The Witch, in addition to incorporating terror, also brings a visually stunning look at the past, showcasing the exact image of England in the 1630s. Eggers’ way of depicting the supernatural activities throughout the film is realistic and stands out from the regular films that people have witnessed in the past. The story starts with a slower pace, however, it’s justified as the tension builds in the later scenes, introducing the viewers to the tragedies faced by the family. The scary moments and the struggles of the family against nature and faith latch to the mind even after the film ends, leaving a great impact on the audience. Uneasy and unsettling until the very end, The Witch carefully creates an uncanny feeling never forgetting te crux of the entire film, making it a real deal.
