The Impossible

2012 / Director. Juan Antonia Bayona

Over 200,000 people perished in the Boxing Day Tsunami and so making a film about one family who survived can't possibly be called anything but The Impossible. The title alone must convey a respect to those who died so tragically as well as the families who've suffered... telling this story of survival could have come across as arrogant and disrespectful but their story is true and it's exceptional. It is simply impossible and if it were a fictional story the audience wouldn't buy into it. I am almost lost for words having just watched it and the words that do come to mind are bold. Extroadinary. Amazing. Astonishing... and Heartbreaking. The Impossible is one of the best and most sincere disaster film's I have ever seen. It is so vivid and raw. The special FX are incredible and director JA Bayona (The Orphanage) brilliantly makes use of practical special FX. A combination of miniatures, simulations and digital effects are blended seamlessly to create an absolutely terrifying tsunami. The film's greatest strength is the performances. Naomi Watts has never been better and Ewan McGregor digs deep to raise some highly emotional stuff. Above all, the children steal the show. Their portrayal of innocence lost is gut wrenching and I challenge anyone to come away dry-eyed. The Impossible impressed the hell out of me and it really is a tribute to all of the lives affected by the tsunami. This might be one family's story but it represents all of the victims. It horrifies me to think of what their experiences were like. 

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