The Impossible Review

The will to survive is inherent in each of us and the film ‘The Impossible’ certainly shows us why. The movies is based on the Boxing Day tsunami tragedy  that slammed ashore the community of Khao Lak 10 years ago; devastating the coastline and killings hundreds of thousands of residents, workers and holiday goers.

The film, ‘The Impossible’, directed by Juan Antonio Byaona, is based on a true set of events and follows the unimaginable survival story of an English family on vacation in Thailand. Naomi Watts and Ewan McGregor star as husband and wife; in the tear jerking recount of their fight to live and to be reunited as a family with their three young boys.

The cinematography is very realistic. The most gut renching scene appears very early on in the film. It’s Boxing Day and the family is in high spirits after celebrating Christmas. They go to the hotel pool, situated behind the beach and play in the water. Out of the blue, flocks of birds shoot past overhead and a loud growling noise stopping guests in their tracks. Suddenly a sheer wave of water appears, travelling towards the family and hotel guests with unimaginable force and ferocity. The visualisation made viewers hold their breath in sheer horror. In that moment my heart felt as though it stopped and also broke as I watched the family desperately try to reach each other before impact.

The family surfaces in two different locations and the film follows the journey of the family, some of them injured, as they fight to survive, trek to find civilisation and ultimately each other.

Whilst I do not have an iron glad stomach, I do handle confrontations with blood, needles and the odd body excavation on CSI well. Throughout the film, however, there were a number of times I could not look at the screen as the visualisations of the injuries sustained were so realistic. At one stage I had to leave the theatre, as I believed I would be physically sick if I remained watching a horrific hospital scene.

The simple accumulation of the visuals, the unimaginable scenario that was brought to life and the stellar acting made the film an extremely emotive experience

for viewers, an incredible tale of human survival in the face of complete despair and showcases the strength of family.