Mark Ruffalo Anchors Netflix's All the Light We Cannot See

Adapting a Pulitzer Prize–winning novel is a high bar, and Netflix’s version of All the Light We Cannot See often feels mismatched to the material. The series is visually striking and features a score by James Newton Howard, but Shawn Levy’s direction leans toward sentimentality that blunts some of the story’s weight.

Still, the adaptation is worth seeing for one compelling reason: Mark Ruffalo’s performance. Ruffalo plays Daniel LeBlanc, a locksmith at the National Museum of History in Paris who secretly helps the resistance hide artifacts from the Nazis. The narrative divides its focus between Daniel’s daughter Marie-Laure, portrayed by blind actress Aria Mia Loberti, and a young German soldier, Werner Pfennig (Louis Hofmann).

Even with that split, the most affecting strand is the father-daughter bond and Daniel’s efforts to share art and memory with Marie-Laure.

mark ruffalo, netflix, shawn levy, film score, pulitzer prize, aria loberti, louis hofmann, daniel leblanc, marie-laure, paris