The Light Between Oceans

In the 1920s, at a desolate spot on the rockbound Australian coast, a lighthouse keeper (Michael Fassbender) and his wife (Alicia Vikander), after two miscarriages, find a dead man and a crying baby washed ashore in a rowboat. They decide to raise the child as their own—until the husband meets the baby’s mother (Rachel Weisz). Arthouse darling Derek Cianfrance goes mainstream, writing and directing an adaptation of M.L. Stedman’s bestselling novel, with splendid results. The movie is superbly acted by the three stars and a largely unfamiliar (except for Jack Thompson and Bryan Brown) supporting cast. Cianfrance’s approach is calm and unhurried without being plodding or turgid, taking time to observe the telling detail and the emotions roiling behind the characters’ eyes. A deeply affecting movie. J.L.