This is something that most movies set in past eras get wrong.
They always show a bunch of candles in the houses, even in poor ones, and a lot of torches outside.
No, just no. No poor household could afford candles, they used pinewood chips, if they could even afford them.
And torches were also expensive, and lasted only a short time.
Even firewood was expensive.
Many movies also show kerosene lamps in eras where they weren't even invented.
The worst thing I've seen is a korean movie, set in the 16th century, showing an Aladdin mantle lamp (without the mantle, and grossly misadjusted). Those things were invented in the 1920s, and became popular in the 1930s.
Come on, guys. You have internet. Getting it right just consts you one Google search.
Other non-obvious things about historical candles:
Self-trimming candle wicks were invented in 1825. Before that people had to regularly trim the wicks of candles (there were special scissors made for this) or the candle would produce huge quantities of smoke when the exposed wick got too long.
Paraffin wax was invented in 1830. Before that candles were made of tallow, which smelled bad and made a lot of smoke, or bee's wax, which was very expensive.
Re lamps - whale oil was used, at least in Europe and US, way before any kerosene was ever invented. That's why they were hunted almost to extinction.
All 18th and 19th novels I recall were mentioning them. Before that, honestly don't know and you are probably right. But yes poorer went to sleep with sun going down, unless there was active fire going on for warmth. Not something poor londoner can pay for regularly, but where I come from forests and mountains were endless sources of fuel.
Perhaps historical accuracy takes a backseat to the need for illumination -- nobody wants to watch a movie with people sitting around in a room so dark you can't see what the actors are doing or their facial expressions.
It wouldn't be that terribly dark. Lighting technology may have been primitive prior to the last 200 years or so, but people, being people, don't like sitting around in dark places if they can improvise alternatives. I think we get a bit fetishistic these days about painting the past as overly dark (both metaphorically and, in this case, literally)
Curiously the 2015 horror movie "The Witch", which takes place on and around a 17th century New England farming community, was supposedly filmed entirely using natural light and lighting appropriate to what was available at the time. You can see everyone's face and gestures.
Cameras that can see in dark spaces are quite a recent development (better SNR digital sensors, beating film) which has opened a lot of new possibilities in dark filmmaking.
Watch a 90s movie that shows "night" and you'll easily notice how everything is under strong, but blue, lighting.
Many movies also show kerosene lamps in eras where they weren't even invented. The worst thing I've seen is a korean movie, set in the 16th century, showing an Aladdin mantle lamp (without the mantle, and grossly misadjusted). Those things were invented in the 1920s, and became popular in the 1930s.
Come on, guys. You have internet. Getting it right just consts you one Google search.