Lighthouses have a peculiar attraction for many people. However, the lighthouse on the end of the breakwater at Lorain, Ohio, overlooking Lake Erie is special. Not that it looks it. The 108-yea- old structure looks pretty dilapidated, needing a lot of repair.
Jacob (Zack Tinker – “Payment Received”) has returned home upon the death of his estranged mother, (Jennifer Ruth – “Spotlight”), who had long suffered with dementia. While he has an inheritance coming to him, nothing will come his way for weeks and he needs money. Hanging out around town, he meets a girl he went to school with, free-spirited Olivia (Anna Nicolle Chavez – “Truth Be Told”). She makes a living running a tour boat, taking people out on the lake.
But then a job turns up: Jim Murdock (John Pyper-Ferguson – “The 100”) owns the old decommissioned lighthouse on the lake, and is fixing it up to sell. It is only accessible by boat, since the breakwater leading to is is far too treacherous. Murdock is surly and withdrawn, difficult to get along with, demanding the impossible, and refusing to spend any more time on the lighthouse than he has to. Once he leaves Jacob, there is no way for him to leave the structure. Fortunately, Olivia sees something in him and visits him at the lighthouse.
Alone, with little food and a lot of work, Jacob begins to imagine strange things going on. Bits of sea glass appear here and there around the light. The decommissioned light, powered by an antique generator that should not work, goes on for brief periods. There are strange noises coming from the basement.
Writer/director John Baumgartner (“Zoe Valentine”) along with Cindy Davis Seng and Jonathan Charles (“Trash”) have produced a moving ghost story with unusual depth. The characters are well-delineated with motivations that ultimately make sense as the mystery enveloping Jacob, his mother’s antipathy, and Murdock’s refusal to face the reality his situation clears. All this is done through a series of flashbacks as Jacob’s memory blockage of part of his youth and the discovery of old clippings flesh out the story – like assembling a jigsaw puzzle. Baumgarten has gotten solid performances from his cast, who have bring a realism to the project not always seen in lower-budget, location films.
At times slow moving, and without any real scares, this is hardly a horror story. However, as an exposition of human failings and the denial of reality, it is an interesting and, I think, successful telling of a series of events that, excepting the supernatural aspect, could happen to anyone.
The lighthouse is an actual location where filming took place, except for the basement scenes, which were shot a the local movie theater.
Runtime: One hour, 33 minutes
Availability: Streaming on Amazon Prime and available for download from various sites.
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