This film is part of Rentals
The Light between Oceans
Michael Fassbender and Alicia Vikander star in Derek Cianfrance’s sweeping romance about a lighthouse keeper, his wife, and the baby they rescue from a drifting boat.
Director: Derek Cianfrance
Overview
Following Blue Valentine (2010) and The Place Beyond the Pines (2013), filmmaker Derek Cianfrance adapts M.L. Stedman’s novel in this sweeping romance. Michael Fassbender and Alicia Vikander star as a Western Australian couple who long for a child – and get their wish when they rescue a baby from a drifting boat offshore. A family seems to be finally forming, until Isabel (Vikander) suspects a local woman (Hannah) might be the mother of their child. Cianfrance recognizes the majestic scope of the romance and period, but focuses in on the central relationship with an eye for unique and startling human emotion in this piercing drama.
In competition at the 2016 Venice International Film Festival, The Light Between Oceans is Cianfrance’s biggest project to date. Employing talent ranging from Adam Arkapaw’s cinematography to Alexandre Desplat’s beautiful score, Cianfrance has scored with a daring, moving romance.
Related
Plainclothes Plainclothes
Drama 2025 97 mins Director: Carmen Emmi
Tom Blyth and Russell Tovey lead a Sundance-prize winning ensemble in this knockout cruising drama from debut director Carmen Emmi.
Young Hearts Young Hearts
Drama 2024 99 mins Director: Anthony Schatteman
A gentle and sincere story of queer love between two young teenage boys, told with warmth and humour.
Solo Solo
Drama 2025 102 mins Director: Sophie Dupuis
Emerging drag queen Simon begins a passionate, yet destructive relationship with an alluring new man, as his mother re-enters his life after 15 years
Christy Christy
Drama 2025 95 mins Director: Brendan Canty
Deeply moving portrait of a young man thrown out of his foster home, trying for a new start after moving in with his estranged brother in Cork.
A Night Like This A Night Like This
Drama 2025 101 mins Director: Liam Calvert
Two seemingly mismatched men form an unexpected connection over the course of one cold London night, in this warm-hearted debut from Liam Calvert.
Paul & Paulette Take a Bath Paul & Paulette Take a Bath
Drama 2024 109 mins Director: Jethro Massey
This unconventional romantic comedy sees a young American in Paris meet a woman with a morbid curiosity for the darker sides of the city's history.
45 Years 45 Years
Drama 2015 95 mins Director: Andrew Haigh
One of the most acclaimed British features of recent years, starring Charlotte Rampling and Tom Courtenay as a couple rocked by news from the past.
52 Tuesdays 52 Tuesdays
Drama 2013 110 mins Director: Sophie Hyde
A mother undergoing a gender transition meets his estranged daughter every Tuesday, changing gradually each time they meet. An intelligent indie hit about modern identity.
99 Homes 99 Homes
Drama 2014 112 mins Director: Ramin Bahrani
With precision and pertinence, Ramin Bahrani’s drama reveals the human cost of the 21st-century economic crisis.
Akenfield Akenfield
Drama 1975 98 mins Director: Peter Hall
Peter Hall’s extraordinary, long-unseen work of sublime poetic realism traces three generations of one Suffolk family and their lives in the farming industry.
All Quiet on the Western Front All Quiet on the Western Front
War 1930 133 mins Director: Lewis Milestone
Lewis Milestone's pioneering, Oscar®-winning film is one of the most powerful films about the consequences of war
American Gangster American Gangster
Crime 2007 157 mins Director: Ridley Scott
Ridley Scott’s heavyweight crime drama follows the rise and fall of drug-runner Frank Lucas, commandingly portrayed by Denzel Washington.
Shame Shame
Drama 2012 101 mins Director: Steve McQueen
A sex addict struggles to hide his habits from his equally troubled sister. With Michael Fassbender and Carey Mulligan.
12 Years a Slave 12 Years a Slave
Biopic 2014 134 mins Director: Steve McQueen
Chiwetel Ejiofor and Michael Fassbender star in Steve McQueen’s fearless, Oscar-winning story of a free man who’s sold into slavery.
Trespass Against Us Trespass Against Us
Crime 2017 99 mins Director: Adam Smith
Brendan Gleeson and Michael Fassbender are the father and son outlaws in this exhilarating crime drama with a Chemical Brothers soundtrack.
Slow West Slow West
Western 2015 84 mins Director: John Maclean
A teenage boy treks through a harsh American west accompanied by a bounty hunter of dubious morality, in this indie western that’s dripped with blood and drenched in style.
Macbeth Macbeth
Drama 2015 113 mins Director: Justin Kurzel
Fassbender is ferocious as the Scottish king in Justin Kurzel’s red-blooded and viscerally atmospheric Shakespeare adaptation.
Frank Frank
Comedy 2014 95 mins Director: Lenny Abrahamson
Michael Fassbender is the man inside the papier-mâché head, in this fictionalised reimagining of the story of northern entertainer Frank Sidebottom.
Testament of Youth Testament of Youth
Drama 2015 130 mins Director: James Kent
Alicia Vikander brings to life the extraordinary life of Vera Brittain, whose affair with a dashing friend (Kit Harington) is cruelly cut short by the onset of war.
Ingrid Bergman: In Her Own Words Ingrid Bergman: In Her Own Words
Documentary 2015 114 mins Director: Stig Björkman
An illuminating portrait of the pioneering actress, crafted from her unique personal archive of home-movie footage, letters and diary extracts.
Ghost Trail Ghost Trail
Thriller 2024 106 mins Director: Jonathan Millet
Tense, morally complex political thriller about a man hunting down fugitive war criminals from the Assad regime in Syria, inspired by true events.
Plainclothes Plainclothes
Drama 2025 97 mins Director: Carmen Emmi
Tom Blyth and Russell Tovey lead a Sundance-prize winning ensemble in this knockout cruising drama from debut director Carmen Emmi.
What Have You Done Today Mervyn Day? What Have You Done Today Mervyn Day?
Documentary 2005 45 mins Director: Paul Kelly
Paul Kelly’s second collaboration with pop band Saint Etienne traces the hidden history of East London’s Lower Lea Valley before its Olympic makeover.
Young Hearts Young Hearts
Drama 2024 99 mins Director: Anthony Schatteman
A gentle and sincere story of queer love between two young teenage boys, told with warmth and humour.
Finisterre Finisterre
Documentary 2003 59 mins Director: Kieran Evans and Paul Kelly
A journey from London’s suburbs to its heart, charting the influence of the city on indie pop band Saint Etienne.
This Is Tomorrow This Is Tomorrow
2007 54 mins Director: Paul Kelly
The final part of Saint Etienne and Paul Kelly’s London trilogy follows the renovation and reopening of the Royal Festival Hall through 2005-7.