The Light Between Oceans is a 2016 romantic drama film written and directed by Derek Cianfrance and based on the 2012 novel by M. L. Stedman.

The film tells the story of a lighthouse keeper and his wife who rescue an infant girl adrift at sea and raise her as their own.

The Light Between Oceans had its world premiere at the 73rd Venice International Film Festival on September 1, 2016,[8] where it competed for the Golden Lion.

In December 1918, Tom Sherbourne – a traumatised and withdrawn hero of World War I – is hired as a lightkeeper at Janus Rock, a lighthouse off the coast of Australia.

Shortly after Isabel's second miscarriage, a rowboat containing a dead man and a newborn baby girl washes ashore near the lighthouse.

As Tom and Isabel are about to have Lucy christened on the mainland, Tom sees a woman, Hannah Roennfeldt, kneeling in front of a grave bearing the names of Franz Johannes Roennfeldt and his baby daughter Grace Ellen, who were lost at sea on the day they found Lucy, 27 April 1926.

He writes anonymously to Hannah to tell her that her husband is dead but that her infant daughter is safe, loved and well cared for.

Tormented by his conscience, Tom sends Hannah a small silver rattle that was found with Lucy on the boat.

An emotionally sorrowful Lucy Grace thanks Tom, the only father she ever knew, for rescuing and raising her for the four years of her life on Janus Rock, and she asks if she can visit again.

[26] Footage aboard a steam train was filmed in October inside a refurbished wooden "bird cage" passenger carriage from the Pleasant Point Railway in South Canterbury.

In November the production moved to Australia and filming began in Stanley, Tasmania[27] where the crews transformed some locations in the town including the pier, which was refurbished, and the road, which was covered in gravel.

[32] A writer/director (Joseph Nobile) alleged that Margot Louise Watts, aka M. L. Stedman,[33] knowingly and willfully copied, plagiarized, pirated and misappropriated expressive content from his screenplay entitled, The Rootcutter, subsequently retitled, A Tale of Two Humans, originally copyrighted in 2001.

The Light Between Oceans was released by Touchstone Home Entertainment on Blu-ray, DVD, and digital download on January 24, 2017.

[7] In the United States, the film was released on September 2, 2016, alongside Morgan, and was projected to gross $6–9 million from around 1,500 theaters in its opening weekend.

The website's critical consensus reads, "The Light Between Oceans presents a well-acted and handsomely mounted adaptation of its bestselling source material, but ultimately tugs on the heartstrings too often to be effective.

[53] Justin Chang of the Los Angeles Times wrote: "The actors hurl themselves into their roles with sufficient commitment and feeling that you believe in Tom and Isabel completely, even when the creaky narrative machinery around them begins to trigger your skepticism.