The Light Between Oceans

Based on a book by M.L. Stedman, The Light Between Oceans follows Michael Fassbender’s Tom Sherbourne as he accepts a job as a lightkeeper on a remote island near Western Australia and eventually marries Alicia Vikander’s Isabel – with the film detailing the consequences of Tom and Isabel’s decision to raise a baby rescued from a drifting rowing boat. Filmmaker Derek Cianfrance, working from his own screenplay, has infused The Light Between Oceans with a lush, intensely cinematic sensibility that effectively heightens the picture’s old-school feel, although it’s equally clear that Cianfrance’s decidedly patient approach to the material paves the way for a somewhat hit-and-miss narrative (ie the movie, at 133 minutes, simply moves too slowly to sustain such a slight storyline) – with Fassbender and Vikander’s strong work here (and their palpable chemistry together) going a long way towards keeping things interesting even through the film’s more plodding stretches. The sporadic inclusion of undeniably emotional moments (including a thoroughly powerful and tearjerking finale) certainly contributes heavily to the movie’s manipulative yet entertaining atmosphere, while Cianfrance’s emphasis on larger-than-life plot twists buoys one’s interest on a fairly frequent basis (ie this is ultimately a fairly soapy story that’s been given the prestige treatment). The end result is a solid drama that could’ve benefited from some judicious edits and a much shorter runtime, which is a shame, really, given that The Light Between Oceans had the potential to establish itself as an instant classic within the romance genre.

*** out of ****