Accessibility is a metric that critics often discuss in conversations about art. In movies that are made to be more accessible, the ideas and themes are immediately clear. They can be enjoyed without much thought or effort. Producers have a great affinity for such projects as they don’t take much risk and appeal to a broad audience.

Filmmaker Robert Eggers, however, has no apparent interest in making accessible movies. In fact, he makes the sort of movies that highbrow critics exclusively refer to as “films.” In 2019, the filmmaker released The Lighthouse, a psychological, avant-garde horror film about a pair of lighthouse keepers descending into madness and alcoholism while entombed in the throes of a violent storm.