In the wake of World War I, people were defined by what they had lost. A generation of young men had been scorched from the earth, leaving a corresponding generation of young women desperate to find a match and begin the work of repopulating their communities. It’s helpful, when embarking into the sheer sadness of Derek Cianfrance’s The Light Between Oceans, to bear this pressure in mind. If women have more or less always been expected to be mothers, this job was considered all the more noble in an era when so many lives had been eradicated. Imagine the pressure on a daughter whose brothers are all dead.
In Oceans, Isabel (Alicia Vikander) is one such daughter. When she meets Tom (Michael Fassbender), a shattered war hero en route to his post manning an isolated lighthouse (and a measure older than she), it’s the opportunity she’s been waiting for. The two are quickly wed and set about starting a family on their remote island while Tom tries to recover from the surprise that he’s not only still alive but experiencing actual life events.