The Impossible (Juan Antonio Bayona, 2012): Spain

Reviewed by Whitney Murdy. Viewed on November 4 at the AFI Filmfest 2012.

On December 26, 2004, the worst natural disaster hit Southeast Asia. The Impossible is the true story of a family on Christmas vacation in Thailand and their incredible story as they are swept up in the tsunami. With the most hauntingly graphic effects, you find yourself holding your breath when that first wave floods the theater. Besides being an edge of  your seat film, add to the fact that the accounts actually occurred and now here is a film with such a thrilling realistic aspect to it that any glimmer of hope would save this horrific tale. Naomi Watts plays Maria, the mother of three boys, Lucas, Tomas, and Simon, and wife of Henry, played by Ewan McGregor. Though the film is advertised as the family’s story of survival, the audience still feels that it would be impossible to survive that storm, hence the title and why this family is so lucky compared to the thousands who were less fortunate in the disaster.

The Impossible took 5 years to complete with its complex visual effects and remarkable 3-D technology sound. When the first wave hits the family, the camera swirls around in the water and the audience is just as disoriented as anyone who is trapped under the whirlpool of a tsunami. In the moment when Maria reaches out to grab her son’s hand as they are being pulled by a current of water, the pad they were floating on abruptly crashes into a tree. First the audience is startled by the sound and then by the fact that they lost each other. However, the film is not just a story about this family but is meant to shed light on the horror of what it felt like to be in that moment as well the miraculous story of the family.

In this heart wrenching film, you will find yourself crying even in the midst of some sort of reunion. Stories with happy endings are all the more promising when they are actually true and that is what makes this disaster film better than anything like it. Any who were disappointed in Matt Damon’s film Hereafter, which intertwined the story of the 2004 tsunami; be on the lookout for The Impossible‘s release. Director Juan Antonio Bayona keeps with the heart of the story by leaving the victims’ names the same in the film and even has a scene filled with actual survivors of the tsunami where they give their account to Ewan McGregor’s character, Henry. A thrilling action film at its core, this movie has all the elements of love in a family, strength in the toughest times and the true journey to unity.