The Impossible is a 2012 movie about one family’s journey after surviving the 2004 tsunami in the Indian Ocean.
The movie is based on the harrowing story of the Alvarez Belons, a Spanish family that was vacationing in Khao Lak, Thailand over Christmas 2004 when the tsunami hit.
Directed by Spanish filmmaker Juan Antonio Bayona and written by Sergio G. Sanchez, the protagonist family in the movie are English physician Maria (Naomi Watts), her Scottish husband Henry (Ewan McGregor) and their sons Lucas, Tomas and Simon.
The first few minutes of the film struck me as soap opera-like. A well-to-do family stays at an expensive resort hotel in Thailand, in the company of likewise well-to-do people from all over the world. They are not really in Thailand, but in a resort that could be anywhere on the globe. There are scenes from their airplane ride to Thailand that really don’t add anything to the story. The movie was obviously setting the scene and building the characters, but it struck me as fake. Fortunately, that didn’t last long.
The scenes of the tsunami hitting were astounding. Most of us never think of the massive power of water in large masses. These images really showed the absolute devastation that results from a tsunami and its aftermath. The lucky that survive, miraculously, somehow, are stranded in a wasteland. When we think of natural disasters, we think of sirens of relief vehicles, with ambulances and helicopters, news crews, all trying to help the victims.
After the tsunami there was nothing but wasteland, mud, bodies, destruction and not a sound. No birds, no animals, no people, no sirens, nobody. Death.
Every victim was utterly alone. Slowly relief efforts started coming into motion. People helped each other, surrounded by utter confusion and terrible misery. The family members started to search for each other.
The search brought the viewer into contact with the vast destruction and helplessness that afflicts thousands, perhaps millions of people after a large tsunami.
Expertly acted and supported by superb special effects, The Impossible is a scary movie about a situation that could happen to anyone living near an ocean, at any time.
Rating: ** 1/2