In March 2019, Netflix and 21 Laps Entertainment acquired the rights to develop a limited television adaptation of All the Light We Cannot See, with Shawn Levy, Dan Levine, and Josh Barry as executive producers.[57] In September 2021, Netflix announced that the series would consist of four episodes, with Steven Knight as writer and Levy as director.[58] The adaptation stars Aria Mia Loberti as Marie-Laure, Louis Hofmann as Werner, Mark Ruffalo as Daniel, Hugh Laurie as Etienne, Lars Eidinger as von Rumpel, and Nell Sutton as the young Marie-Laure.[59] With approval from Doerr, Levy removed potentially upsetting scenes late in the story for the adaptation, stating that he wanted the ending to feel optimistic.[60]
The adaptation premiered at the 2023 Toronto International Film Festival and will be released on Netflix on November 2, 2023.[61] The initial critic reviews have been generally negative.[62] To date, out of nine reviews, 33% have been positive, according to Rotten Tomatoes.[63] The critics who read the novel deemed the changes superficial and unnecessary,[62][64] arguing that the story is cliché and monotonous without the "central character’s astute, compelling perspective" from the novel, as quoted from Ben Travers of IndieWire.[61] The Hollywood Reporter's Daniel Fienberg specifically thought that by the third episode, the plot barely resembled the novel, with each change making the "material louder, clumsier and less emotionally rich."[65]
