Movie Reviews: The Light Between Oceans, Sully, and Deepwater Horizon

The Light Between Oceans

The Light Between Oceans presents an interesting scenario to the audience about what is right and wrong. Michael Fassbender stars as a lighthouse keeper named Tom, who marries Isabel, a young women from the nearest town, played by Alicia Vikander. After two unsuccessful pregnancies that bring painful loss, a boat washes ashore with a deceased man and a crying baby. After much pleading from the Isabel who thinks it was their destiny to find the baby, Tom declines to report their find to authorities. He buries the body and they raise the baby as their own, building a lie around them. 

The lie eventually falls apart, as Tom soon finds out that the baby’s mother is alive and heartbroken (played by Rachel Weisz). Even as the couple continue to raise the child, Tom slowly breaks down and the couple struggle to recover from their decision.

The film is simple and touching, especially watching Michael Fassbender show the struggle he faces as he strives to do what is right, while also wanting to bring happiness to his devastated wife. While their decision may have been wrong, you couldn’t help but feel for them and understood why they did it.

Something I really loved about this film was the fashion. It was simple, with the colors soft and comforting. I just wanted to crawl into Isabel’s charming dresses and warm sweaters that she wore as the wind blew in on them from the fierce ocean waves. I liked the lighthouse setting as well, and found the film to be emotional, well acted, while also providing a thought-provoking story. 

Sully

I’ll pretty much see anything with Tom Hanks, so Sully was a must for me this fall. While the story of Chesley Sullenberger landing a US Airlines plane on the Hudson River is still pretty fresh in most minds, it has already been almost eight years. Tom Hanks’ performance is as good as ever, convincingly portraying Sully in the moments before the takeoff of the flight, during the plane’s successful landing, and the aftermath of the events. Aaron Eckhart also does well in the role of the co-pilot, Jeff Skiles, a person who was right there for everything, but isn’t as recognizable as Sully. 

I wasn’t sure how the film would expand on something that took place over only a few minutes, but the story flowed well and I was interested throughout the entire film. The most intense part, the birds hitting the plane causing the engines to blow out, followed by Sully’s decisions that follow, are shown two times in a series of different perspectives. We see the plane crash through the eyes of the air traffic controller the pilots call, then through the passengers on the plane, as well as rescue teams. Then at the end of the film, as Sully and Jeff are defending their actions to a board of officials, we see what they went through in the cabin. Director Clint Eastwood puts together a surprisingly good story, with the film showing the media aftermath and the investigation, all of which causes Sully to question his decisions and wonder if his career will be over because of his choice. 

Deepwater Horizon

Another film based on a true-story, Mark Wahlberg stars as Mike Williams, a survivor of the BP Oil Spill, which killed 11 workers and harmed countless ocean life. Taking place in 2010, This film covers how the worst oil spill in recent history, which leaked for 87 days in the oceans of Louisiana, began. The film takes a while to get to the actual explosion that begins the disaster, which maybe drags a bit in the beginning, but the film does set up how the company works, what the workers do, and the greed that the company executives have. Having those understandings help feel more connected to the story once the tragedy hit.

The film is very intense from beginning to end and it made me think a lot about people who work in the oil industry. I think unless you or someone you are connected to work in it, you just don’t really know much about day-to-day life and operations. It was eye-opening to see the facilities they work in, how big the oil rig is, and how far out they are in the ocean.

The cast is rounded out by Kurt Russell, Kate Hudson, John Malkovich, as well as excellent up-and-comers Gina Rodriguez and Dylan O’Brien. The film is immersive and feels like you are there as members of the crew get drenched in oil and the fiery flames erupt, growing and surrounding the workers as they attempt to save the rig and their lives. It is mentally draining watching what they went through, and I hope that the survivors and people who lost their lives feel that this is a worthy telling of their story.