What a breath of fresh air. I don't mean the literal air on these desolate island but a movie without an intrusive soundtrack or where the producers have made sure every scene is fully explained to a dumb audience.

A stark production from a director moving up from TV for the first time and showing talent in the way that Spielberg did with Duel.

Strong acting from a small bunch of blokes in a claustrophobic environment.

From the premise I almost thought this was similar to "The Lighthouse" with Pattinson and Dafoe. But this is nothing like that. While this is quite somber (for a movie with Butler in it),it is not nearly as intense or good as that. Still the movie is at least decent, with nice play between the 3 main characters. With some added flavor of others thrown in.

Being on an island can do things to your mind. When an outside "force" comes it adds a new ingredient to the mix. This is not always a good thing. And nothing comes for free either ... even if you don't know or haven't read up on the story, once you open something, you know you'll have to live with the consequences. Whatever those may be

Also known as The Vanishing, three lighthouse keepers are on their next scheduled six weeks stay on the remote Flannan Isle off the coast of Scotland in 1900. Thomas Marshall (Peter Mullan) is the 25 year veteran. James Ducat (Gerard Butler) is the family man. Donald McArthur (Connor Swindells) is the newbie. Mercury is spilled. Dead birds are found. They find a seemingly dead body washing up on shore. Donald is lowered down the cliff to retrieve the body. He finds a locked locker and they start raising it up the cliff. The supposed dead man attacks Donald who manages to kill him in self-defense. The locked box contains bars of gold and other people come looking for it.

The start is slow. I don't like the opening text which is too vague and sounds like a ghost story. With the setting, that's what I was expecting. It also reveals the ending which does not help the tension. It should state the place and the date and the state of the place. It should not state that the three lighthouse keepers go missing. The movie takes a giant step up upon the arrival of the strangers. Those two have great creepiness. Their threatening nature heightens the tension. The middle is very solid and I had high hopes. The last act is a bit disappointing especially after the strangers. It loses their intensity and the opening text comes back to haunt it. This movie should simply rewrite the opening text, expand the middle, and rework the last act.