Is Netflix's All The Light We Cannot See worth watching?
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After months of anticipation Netflix's adaptation of Anthony Doerr's All The Light We Cannot See finally drops on 2nd November. Starring Aria Mia Loberti, Louis Hofmann, Mark Ruffalo and Hugh Laurie, the four-part limited series tells the story of two teenagers in World War II, who are unknowingly linked through their love of a particular radio show.
With a lot of hype around the novel and now the mini-series, is All The Light We Cannot See worth watching? Here's what we thought and everything else you need to know about the show.
What is All The Light We Cannot See about?
Based on Anthony Doerr’s Pulitzer Prize-winning novel of the same name All The Light We Cannot See tells the story of two young people in World War II. There's blind French teenage girl Marie-Laure LeBlanc, and a German orphan Werner Pfennig who is forced to join and fight for the Nazi regime.
Marie and her father Daniel flee German-occupied Paris for a new life in St. Malo, however they are constantly pursued by a Gestapo officer, who believes the pair have a legendary diamond in their possession. They move in with family members Etienne and Madame Manec, and soon discover there is a lot going on in their new house by the sea than first appears.
German solider Werner grows up in an orphanage and is recruited to join the Nazis when they discover his unusual set of skills. The two teenagers' lives become surprisingly intertwined thanks to their shared love of a professor who they both grew up listening to on the radio.
Who is in cast of All The Light We Cannot see?
All The Light We Cannot See has a great cast made up of a mix of A-List actors and exciting new talent. Here's the full cast lineup for All The Light We Cannot See:
Aria Mia Loberti as Marie-Laure LeBlanc
Nell Sutton as young Marie-Laure LeBlanc
Louis Hofmann as Werner Pfennig
Lucas Herzog as young Werner Pfennig
Mark Ruffalo as Daniel LeBlanc
Hugh Laurie as Etienne LeBlanc
Marion Bailey as Madame Manec
Lars Eidinger as Reinhold von Rumpel
Luna Wedler as Jutta Pfennig
Is All The Light We Cannot See worth watching? Our review
Given the hype for this book (which disclaimer: I have not read) I had very high expectations going into watching this series, which unfortunately were lukewarmly met.
The series begins by introducing us to Marie and Werner, who are forever linked by their love of the professor they grew up listening to on the same radio frequency. We then meet the vile Reinhold von Rumpel, who is looking for Marie, as he believes she has in her possession the legendary Sea of Flames diamond which he believes will cure his illness. We then have the first of many flashback scenes, with a young Marie and her father walking through the city of Paris. We then learn more about Werner's background growing up in an orphanage with his sister Jutta.
The first episode feels the longest and most disjointed of the four part series, which is perhaps not surprising given its there to introduce us to the characters and various plotlines. The series does improve after the first episode and feels like it has more of a rhythm to it.
However, after the four episodes I came away feeling deeply connected to some of the characters, while also feeling like they'd only just scratched the surface with each plot. Perhaps in wanting to include so much from Doerr's novel, they couldn't give each plot point the time it deserved. There was so much more I would have loved to have learnt about Werner's childhood and his earlier time in the war.
But of the storylines they did include towards the end of the series I found myself welling up at multiple moments. And this is in part due to the incredible acting of newcomer Aria Mia Loberti and her co-star Louis Hofmann.
One thing the series could have done without is Mark Ruffalo's accent, was it French? Was it Italian? I'm still not sure. And annoyingly it took me out of the series, which was a shame as the rest of Mark's portrayal of Daniel LeBlanc was incredibly moving, and saw him as a nurturing and loving dad, dedicated to championing the gift of Marie's blindness. Hugh Laurie as Uncle Etienne was also a stand out character and managed to convey his character's complex journey in a rather short time frame.
And of course we have to give the series props for its cinematic quality, the scenes are all so beautifully shot, it feels like a bit of a shame it wasn't made into a movie for the big screen. With many so World War II films and series over the years, it was refreshing to learn a different part of the history I hadn't known before.
So is All The Light We Cannot See worth watching? If you're a dedicated fan of the book you may want to give it a skip as the plot appears to be slightly different and may not live up to the expectations you have for an adaptation.
However, if you haven't read the book or aren't worried about the adaptation, then it's a good watch for a Sunday afternoon, where you're slightly hungover and wanting to watch something with that period drama feel that will definitely have you weeping by episode four.
All The Light We Cannot See is available on Netflix from 2nd November
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