N judged by less exacting standards, The Light Between Oceans is an underwhelming experience. With a tone that’s somber bordering on portentous, it turns on three thinly drawn central figures whose fable-like story is driven by the kind of coincidences and contrivances that, aside from being easier to buy on the page than onscreen, make their sorrow feel arbitrary and weightless. the light between oceans is a silly piece of work.