One of my all time favorites.

one of my absolute favorites!

Brilliant and touching

One of the film's great tricks is that, for a time, you think it will go down a rabbit hole of unrealistic glorification.

It's slow-paced although much of the content is interesting enough to keep you watching. A second hand on the tiller would have improved the script and direction - yes writer/director again, although he doesn't do a bad job and it is based on a book - but it's worth persevering with if you like a weepie drama.It's a fascinating look at moral choices and the decisions people make. In this case, the decisions are made by the various story members but you might want to ask yourself what you'd do in the same situation.The two leads a superb - Michael Fassbender and Alicia Vikander - and the scenery is wonderful and atmospheric.Not a movie I'd watch again and you have to like a particular type of movie to enjoy it but give it a whirl and see what you think.

No words can explain how touched I was when I watched it.. This movie made me pout, smile, tense up, cry, and smile again..made of various kind of love all shown and felt throughout it made me warm inside :)

While I'm a fan of Michael Fassbender, I was too caught up in the fact the two leads were dating and now married, so I couldn't get emotional, even though the story was pretty sad. I understand he loved her so much to take the fall after they were found out, but after reading the girl from her arms, it just made it worse for her, AND being without her husband. The movie was beautifully shot, I love the sights and sounds of the ocean's crashing waves. It would've made more sense if the Rachel Weisz character knew that Isabel miscarried twice, although she was very sympathetic to not sending them both to jail for a long time.

From the ultra-close face shots very reminiscent of those of Carl Dreyer's 'The Passion of Joan of Arc' to the tender chemistry between the two main characters to the fantastic acting of the 4-year-old version of the orphan, this film deserves the highest rating that can be given. This is, in a way, a chick flick, but in a far deeper way it is a study of right and wrong and how a seemingly innocent decision, designed to alleviate a destructive psychic pain, can set into motion events which spiral out of control and involve many more people than were originally considered. Too, if you love stories set during the Great War, or stories about lighthouses, this one was filmed with you in mind. The limits of true love and marital commitment are put to the test with seeming betrayal and unfounded suspicions--and on a broader scale we see the Christ willing to die in the place of His spouse Humanity after He has been wrongly condemned by her suspicious mind which did not grasp His love for her to the letter of his marriage vow-- which promised her 'better, or worse, 'til death do us part'.