The last time moviegoers saw a lighthouse prominently featured on the big screen was probably Robert Eggers’ The Lighthouse. It remains a strong symbol, both of isolation and safety. In fact, there’s a new film out this week whose plot revolves around a lighthouse, though its characters and themes are miles off from what Eggers had explored. I’m Beginning to See the Light centers on a trumpeter (Jack Huston) who specializes in jazz, with the title referencing the classic song by Duke Ellington, Johnny Hodges, Harry James, and Don George, though the Velvet Underground’s unrelated ditty comes to mind.
When we first meet Huston’s character, Ezra, he’s blaring seductively on his horn for a live audience — but from there, things turn grim and pave the way for a slow-burning journey of self-discovery and salvation. From veteran director Konstantin Khudyakov, this thought-provoking new indie sometimes gets lost by the seaside trying to lean into cerebral themes a bit too hard despite its often stunning imagery. But for that reason, it could just become somewhat of a conversation piece after the credits roll.
It Could Always Be Worse (And It Will Be)
I’m Beginning to See the Light
2.5
/5
- Release Date
-
November 28, 2024
- Runtime
-
103 minutes
- Director
-
Konstantin Khudyakov
- Writers
-
Mark Bacci
- Producers
-
Pavel Hoodyakov
- Jack Huston gives his all to this aching performance.
- ‘I’m Beginning to See the Light’ is thought-provoking throughout.
- The final image feels like a betrayal of what came before it.
- Some things don’t add up, given the ending.
Before we begin to see the light, there is first darkness, of course. That comes when musician Ezra experiences a family tragedy early on. Initially, we think the central conflict will arise from the usual family-man necessities: he’s not earning his keep to support his family, playing live music in a dated genre for chump change. You can see it on the anxiety-stricken face of his beautiful wife Sarah (Jamie Chung), but not on that of his loving young daughters, who are there to support Ezra at the live show. Yet, money problems become small potatoes when they all soon fall victim to a freak, deadly accident on the drive home that night…
And it’s not just any collision. Ezra’s vehicle is smashed by a truck carrying, of all things, an enormous piece of a lighthouse. They reside in a beachside town after all, and when Ezra awakens delirious inside the hospital, he learns he’s apparently the only one who made it out alive. What does that do to a husband and father? First physically crushed by the collision, and now crushed once more, on a whole different level.
Everyone Wants to Die at the Lighthouse
Lighthouses are often used as a symbolic beacon of hope, given the literal purpose they serve for vessels at sea. Perhaps that’s why, when Ezra finally emerges from the hospital, he finds himself drawn to the very lighthouse that indirectly killed his family. This begins a variety of coincidences which range from happenstance to fate (and cheap narrative devices at times). After a series of bizarre coincidences where Ezra is mistaken for the manager of the lighthouse, he decides he’ll just shack up inside the structure instead of entertaining the dreaded thought of returning to his now-empty home. Isolation sounds all the better.
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When the utterly grief-stricken Ezra starts having dark thoughts about his own existence in this world, other suicidal locals begin visiting the lighthouse with hopes of taking the plunge. That’s when Ezra shakes things off and steps in to help, thereby finding a new sort of purpose and reshaping his path despite all that he’s lost. Plus, a sweet little B-story emerges in the form of a local fan of Ezra’s music, charming local Hannah (Abbie Cornish), who happened to lock eyes with Ezra at the live show shortly before the car crash. Her visitations to the lighthouse help keep the widower, well, not exactly happy, but hopeful enough not to jump.
An Ending You Won’t See Coming (For Better or Worse)
There’s a collective element of suffering in the film that is oddly comforting, as Ezra encounters other suicidal strangers at the lighthouse in this dark, simple story. But for a film whose tone is mostly low-key to a fault, it helps that the two lost souls who visit Ezra’s new home and try to dive off the lighthouse are portrayed by standout performers. First, there’s Brandon T. Jackson (Tropic Thunder) as Sam, whom Ezra talks down off the ledge and soon befriends — especially upon learning they have a shared passion as musicians. Jackson keeps things lively in his more upbeat scenes opposite the mundane Huston.
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The other man who tries to take the dive is an escaped convict, played by reliably solid Mark Boone Junior, who even delivers an impassioned monologue about the nature of humanity. Boone is a gret actor and has such a powerful screen presence, and his scenes are wonderfully interesting. The last time Mark Boone Junior starred in a film this cerebral was the Marilyn Manson-led Let Me Make You a Martyr, which has a more impactful end resut than I’m Beginning to See the Light.
Nevertheless, director Khudyakov — now 86 years old — maintains a certain indie whimsy all the way through, but it builds to a twisty and surprising ending that may actually come off as shock value to some. Others may perceive it as a betrayal and turn utterly confused. No spoilers, but the trippy final moments are sure to stir debate, if enough cinephiles actually tune in. If what the filmmakers are trying to convey with said conclusion is true, that means there are a whole slew of inconsistencies throughout the rest of the plot, but we may just be overthinking it as jaded film enthusiasts. If nothing else, Huston holds the screen well yet again and continues to prove himself as a leading man.
From Gravitas Ventures, I’m Beginning to See the Light will be released in select theaters, digital, VOD and Blu-Ray on May 2.
This story originally appeared on Movieweb
