All the Light We Cannot See: Release date, trailer, cast, plot & more

Here’s everything we know about All the Light We Cannot See, from release date to its trailer, cast, and plot.

Based on the Pulitzer Prize-winning novel by Anthony Doerr, All the Light We Cannot See is a new limited series adapted by Netflix that fans have been waiting years for after the novel sold over 15 million copies.

Stranger Things producer Shawn Levy will be directing the four-episode series while Peaky Blinders creator Steven Knight will be in the lead writer’s seat. Levy also tapped his Arrival co-producer Dan Levine to produce the adaptation.

The series has been a long time coming as it was originally supposed to be a movie, but has finally found a home on Netflix. So, here’s everything we know, from its release date, to its trailer, cast, and plot.

When will All the Light We Cannot See be released?

All the Light We Cannot See will be released on Netflix on November 2nd, 2023, for a four-episode run.

The project was first announced in 2019 when Levy and his production company, 21 Laps, acquired the rights to the book. Due to all of the material found in the book, Levy told Collider that “this is a feature film approach to a limited series and the visuals and emotional scale feel very much more cinematic than television series.”

Levy also explained why the entire series was written by one person instead of a team of writers. “The whole idea was, let’s not stretch it to indulge some idea of an eight-episode limited series,” Levy said in his Collider interview. “Let’s just make it as long as the story wants to be. And that ended up being four episodes that are propulsive and tight.”

All the Light We Cannot See trailer: Is there a trailer?

There is currently a teaser trailer for All the Light We Cannot See that Netflix debuted a week ago. Check it out below:

While this is just a teaser trailer, an official trailer will be available closer to when the show is set to premiere.

All the Light We Cannot See cast: Who’s in it?

The cast of All the Light We Cannot See is absolutely stacked with award-winning veterans to new found talent making their acting debut. See the full cast list below:

• Aria Mia Loberti as Marie-Laure LeBlanc
• Nell Sutton as young Marie-Laure LeBlanc
• Mark Ruffalo as Daniel LeBlanc
• Hugh Laurie as Etienne LeBlanc
• Louis Hofman as Werner Pfennig
• Lars Eidinger as Reinhold von Rumpel
• Andrea Deck as Sandrina
• Marion Bailey as Madame Manec

During an interview with Tudum, Levy described Loberti as “a magnificent discovery” and “true creative partner.” Loberti, much like her character, is also legally blind and she has openly talked about her struggles living life with this disability during an emotional TEDx Talk in 2018.

Levy praised Loberti’s presence in the series, saying: “Aria, every single day, was able to teach me about the experience of living without sight.” He also expressed how the series is “so much more nuanced and authentic in its DNA” due to Loberti being so closely connected to her character. This will also be Loberti’s first acting role.

When it came to casting Werner, the co-lead in the series, Levy stated that he and his team auditioned hundreds of German actors before choosing Hofman. Levy explained that he wanted someone who had the “intelligence to be a believable genius on screen” while also having the “soulfulness to convey Werner’s depth, even in the midst of circumstances that are cruel and relentless.” This is Hofman’s second Netflix project, as he starred in 2017’s Dark.

All the Light We Cannot See plot: What will it be about?

The plot of All the Light We Cannot See centers around a young woman and man during World War II.

First look images for Netflix's All the Light We Cannot See – coming on November 2nd, 2023. pic.twitter.com/oq7DaEUhZv

— What's on Netflix (@whatonnetflix) April 18, 2023

Marie-Laure LeBlanc and her father, Daniel, live in Paris where her father works as a curator at the Museum of Natural History. After the Nazi party takes over the city, the two flee to the coastal French town of Saint-Malo to live with Marie-Laurie’s reclusive uncle, all while harboring a legendary diamond taken from the museum that the Nazis want by any means necessary. 

While living in the seaside town, Marie-Laurie crosses paths with Werner Pfennig, a teenage orphan with the unique gift of being able to repair radios. Enlisted by Hitler’s regime to track down illegal broadcasts, Werner discovers Marie-Laurie’s existence through a defunct frequency and, instead of reporting her, the two begin to form a friendship. However, with Marie-Laurie being pursued by Nazis and Werner helping their cause, their connection quickly becomes complicated.

Levy promised that the show will live up to its title as the plot is about “lightness and darkness and hope and evil and heartbreak and love.” He also explained that the ending is not really a happy one, but it does show the audience the “possibility of survival, the persistence of innocence and hope, and the constant ability to rebuild.”

That’s everything we know about All the Light We Cannot See. We’ll update this page with further announcements and trailers as they roll out. In the meantime, you can check out our other TV hubs below:

Invincible Season 2 | The Boys Season 4 | Stranger Things Season 5 | Severance Season 2 | Sex Education Season 4 | Black Mirror Season 6 | House of the Dragon Season 2