Imagine, if you can, enduring a natural disaster, being separated from family members, including children, and sustaining serious injuries. That is the plight of just one character in The Impossible, which is based on a true story about the experiences of one family during the 2004 tsunami that tore through Thailand. The Impossible will leave you breathless at times and, most likely, emotionally drained at the conclusion. The film opens as the Bennett family are celebrating the Christmas holiday in a beachfront hotel. As they frolic in the pool, strange noises permeate from the water until a wave blasts through the lower level of the hotel. Mother and son, Maria (Naomi Watts) and Lucas (Tom Holland), are swept away, but manage to find each other and head for higher ground. Maria, who is a doctor, sustains serious injuries to her chest and leg, but medical help may be long in coming. They are eventually found, along with a toddler, Daniel, who they happened upon during their journey. The trio are all taken to a hospital, where Maria undergoes multiple surgeries.
Meanwhile, the father, Henry (Ewan McGregor), and the two younger sons, Thomas (Samuel Joslin) and Simon (Oaklee Pendergast), survived the crushing waves and have been holed up in the hotel, waiting to be escorted to a safer location. However, Henry decides to continue his frantic search for Maria and Lucas and informs the youngsters that he is staying behind, while sending them on to a camp and trusting other adult victims of the disaster with their safety. It is a grueling, emotional decision that is portrayed perfectly by McGregor, who will make viewers cry repeatedly throughout the film. The balance of the film centers around the journey of the family members to find some way to reunite safely.
The performances from the aforementioned actors are sensational. While Naomi Watts has received a good deal of attention for her work, and deservedly so, Ewan McGregor has not and I do not understand why. He is consistently outstanding and provides, perhaps, the most emotional moment of the film, when he finally secures a cell phone to call home to his extended family. While I had been crying off and on before that scene, I audibly sobbed while listening to that telephone conversation. Indeed, The Impossible is a film that reels you in and simply will not let you go.
Director J.A. Bayona elicits superior work from his principal cast members. Yes, the child actors, who range in age from five to twelve years of age, deliver amazing and believable performances, too. Even the aforementioned toddler, Daniel, will leave you in a puddle and he does not even speak any lines. Bayona should also be given credit for recreating the formidable tsunami via special effects, which adds another chilling degree of realism to The Impossible. The screenplay, by Sergio G. Sánchez, is ripe with emotion, as the family struggles to survive and continues to hope for a reunion. They will not be deterred in their attempt at a reconciliation, even though they are not even sure if everyone survived.
While I highly recommend The Impossible, potential viewers should understand the emotional heft the film carries. Parents may be especially susceptible to the emotional struggle that Maria and Henry face to protect their children in an unpredictable and terrifying situation, far from home and is an area that has literally been destroyed. I cried repeatedly throughout the film, sometimes for several minutes. Not just tears welling up in my eyes, but tears streaming down my face, while being choked up. No other film has ever had this profound an effect on me and even though it was difficult to sit through, the amazing story is simply too powerful to miss. In fact, I would like to see The Impossible again, just not right away.
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