And while in Eggers’ “Lighthouse” the ungrateful task of being on an isolated island had two people, so we know how it ended, in the psychological drama – horror by the Welshman Russell Owen, this task belonged to only one guy. As the very name of this British film suggests, this unfortunate man is not even a lighthouse keeper, but a shepherd who, after a series of life tragedies, accepted a job on a remote island where the sinister lighthouse is located. Eric Black (Tom Hughes) cannot come to terms with the tragic death of his unfaithful wife and thinking that it would be good for him to spend some time alone, he will accept the job of shepherd on an isolated island in the Scottish Highlands.
On the way to the island, he will stop at his parents’ house, but his mother (Greta Scacchi) will chase him because she blames him for her father’s death, and she has not yet forgiven him for breaking off contact with them to marry a lady who will later be unfaithful to him. . So he and his shepherd dog, a boat driven by a one-eyed weirdo (Kate Dickie), will reach an islet where he seems to be beginning to lose his mind completely. And it’s a real shame that more was not extracted from this film, because not only are the actors in good shape and quality, but a fantastic location has been found and these desolate Scottish Highlands, islets, wastelands and meadows create the perfect backdrop for first-class psycho-horror. . It all seems claustrophobic, sinister from the beginning, the atmosphere is uncomfortable, and as soon as they arrive on the island, the dog seems to begin to sense that something evil is happening there.
What this reality is, and what the shepherd’s nightmares, fantasies, apparitions are, is difficult to discern at first, and from the beginning the fragile young man with the feeling of guilt seems to be starting to fall apart completely. Everything from the beginning to the end is somehow hallucinatory, hypnotic, somewhere halfway between dream and reality. The uneasiness and confusing feeling is accentuated by both ominous and warning music and sounds that further amplify this psychological drama in the main character. And it was recorded with quality, so the damage is all the greater because in the end it remained quite mediocre and problematic.
