Intense viewing experience with great performances from all

Rating: 10/10 (23 February 2015)

Wow, this was an intense viewing experience, which brought me to tears more than once. I actually watched it twice with the rental, picking up little bits I'd missed the first time through. In my re-watch it was interesting to see the family 'before' after witnessing their 'after'. All clean and uninjured, careless and happy.
The actual tsunami scenes are fantastic, very well shot or CGI'd(?), but its the aftermath with all the bloody (realistic) injuries, the hospital scenes and the chaos going on around the separated family as they try to find each other that really drew me in.
More than once I questioned the decisions made by the adults (I'm pretty sure I'm not leaving my kids anywhere) but that's another reason I liked this so much, -what would you do? Outstanding performances from Naomi Watts, you can feel her pain and fear and also Ewan McGregor and the boy playing their oldest son Lucas.
A couple of events towards the end had me thinking really!? That's convenient, but still a great film. I wish now I'd seen this in the theatre as it was obviously made for the full viewing experience, playing with your senses using sound and visuals. 07.13