Ember's analysis
- Pacing
- Slow
- Intensity
- Strong
- Complexity
- Easy to follow
- Violence
- Mild
- melancholic
- romantic
- devastating
- quiet evening
- romantic drama night
What critics said
Critics broadly found it a well-acted and handsomely mounted literary adaptation whose emotional force is weakened by an overworked, overly sentimental narrative.
What sets it apart
May contain story progression spoilers
Tom and Isabel live as lighthouse keepers on an isolated island, separated from the mainland and ordinary social life.
Tom and Isabel conceal the infant’s arrival and construct a family around a decision that eventually implicates their marriage.
Isabel’s miscarriages and attachment to Lucy collide with Hannah’s search for her missing daughter.
The romance is defined by miscarriages, bereavement, separation, and the characters’ attempts to live with painful consequences.
Films like The Light Between Oceans, and why
Atonement
Shared period romance, moral conflict, grief, and emotionally heightened domestic drama
The English Patient
Shared sweeping historical romance, wartime aftermath, and tragic emotional stakes
The Painted Veil
Shared intimate marriage drama, parenthood conflict, and bittersweet moral choices
The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society
Shared literary adaptation, coastal isolation, romantic devotion, and devastating consequences
Movie Details
- Director
- Derek Cianfrance
- Release Date
- 2016-09-02
- Runtime
- 133 min
- Rating
- 7.1 / 10 (1446)
Cast
- Michael Fassbender
- Alicia Vikander
- Rachel Weisz
- Bryan Brown
- Jack Thompson
- Caren Pistorius
- Florence Clery
- Anthony Hayes
- Emily Barclay
- Leon Ford
Where to watch in United States
- Rent
- Amazon Video, Google Play Movies, YouTube, Fandango At Home
- Buy
- Amazon Video, Google Play Movies, YouTube
Streaming options come from TMDB and change over time.
Common questions
- What is The Light Between Oceans about?
- A lighthouse keeper and his grieving wife build a family around a found infant, only to face the moral cost of keeping her from her mother.
- What is The Light Between Oceans like to watch?
- Ember's analysis rates the pacing of The Light Between Oceans as slow, its intensity as strong and its storytelling as easy to follow.
- Is The Light Between Oceans violent?
- Only mildly. Ember rates the violence in The Light Between Oceans as mild.
- What did critics think of The Light Between Oceans?
- Critics broadly found it a well-acted and handsomely mounted literary adaptation whose emotional force is weakened by an overworked, overly sentimental narrative.
- Which films are like The Light Between Oceans?
- Films with a similar feel include Atonement, The English Patient, The Painted Veil, and The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society.
- How long is The Light Between Oceans?
- The Light Between Oceans runs 133 minutes.
- Where can I watch The Light Between Oceans?
- In United States, The Light Between Oceans is available to rent or buy from Amazon Video, Google Play Movies, YouTube, Fandango At Home.
