From Orlando Weekly
To Keep the Light
(88 minutes; 3 stars)
showtimes: 4:15 p.m. Saturday, April 9, Regal Winter Park Village A; 6:30 p.m. Tuesday, April 12, Enzian
- To Keep the Light
First-time writer-director Erica Fae’s To Keep the Light is a quietly mesmerizing look at the lonely life of a lighthouse keeper’s wife who is struggling with her daily duties – and her sanity – while caring for her sick husband in 19th-century Maine. When a mysterious stranger washes up on shore, she is forced to confront both her past and her future.
Shot much like a haunted-house thriller, the film takes on an Ingmar Bergman feel in the second half. Though it offers few surprises once its twist is revealed, its beauty and confidently methodical pacing – not to mention a solid performance by Fae herself – make it one of the better offerings in the Narrative Features competition. It doesn’t utilize the rich Downeast New England dialect as much as it could, but it nevertheless captures the feel of the period and, in keeping with many other films at the festival, features an interesting feminist theme. – Cameron Meier