The Impossible

An incredible true life account of a family of 5 who get caught in the Thailand tsunami while on holiday in 2004.

Naomi Watts and Ewan McGregor are young parents with 3 young sons who go on holiday to Kao Lak in Thailand for Christmas.  A few days into the holiday, the now famous tsunami violently hits the coast, firstly hitting the beach side resort they are staying in.  This happens within the first 10 minutes of the film, the devastation hits you like a hammer to the head.  You see the family split, the oldest son with the mother and the 2 younger sons with the father.

The 30 minutes that follow shows the true horror of the tsunami, cars and houses broken and swept away, palm trees uprooted and washed with the swell of the water.  230,000 people died during this torrent, and having watched the film it’s amazing anyone survived such hell.

The family story is of true survival, trying to live so that the children can have the hope to live too.  The 3 child actors were truly amazing and created some of the more touching scenes in such a harrowing tale.  Down to the smallest touch where a young child who has lost its parents gently touches the head of Watt’s character and caresses her arm as if to care for this woman he doesn’t know but is all he has in the world at that time.

This film had me in floods of tears and at times I was in shock at the horror of the tsunami itself.  How they created the tsunami is quite amazing and definitely makes you realise just how horrible it was.  My only criticism was the excessive use of the score to create emotional music that pull on the heart strings even more.  The plot and the tsunami were the stars of the show, surely we as viewers can feel sadness and horror without screechy violin strings telling us what to feel?

Some are saying its McGregor’s finest hour and I am inclined to agree.  He acted his socks off, the constant look of pain and yearning for his family surrounded by true devastation.  For me the 3 children actors were just fantastic, their innocence in such a unimaginable hell really shines through throughout the film.

This film will make you want to hold your kids a little bit tighter after watching it.  Life is precious and nature can be a beast.