Director: Derek Cianfrance
Year Released: 2016
Rating: 1.0
Traumatized WWI vet Tom (Michael Fassbender), back in his native Australia, takes a job to work on a lighthouse on a very remote island; when on the mainland, he falls for - and marries - delightful Isabel (Alicia Vikander) but she keeps having miscarriages, so when a boat floats by containing a dead German man and a baby, they raise the child as their own ... until Tom finds out it's actually widow Hannah's (Rachel Weisz) long-lost daughter. Even if one can look past the roll-your-eyes scenario, it's tough to find any kind of passion or interest in the Fassbender-Vikander relationship ... which is odd, since they're (currently) in a 'relationship' in real life: the two of them lack on-screen chemistry, with him sullen and taciturn while she has to do the actorly lifting (in fact, muting both performers is some kind of dubious accomplishment, since they're both compulsively watchable in other films). The cinematography is lovely, however: at least Mother Nature's waves show any sign of actual life.
