Great film. Pictures the terror, the horror & hope of the Tsunami

Rating: 10/10 (19 December 2016)

In film & TV history, the "based on a true story" handle has been played to death, but the Impossible, did, well, the impossible.
It follows the events of a family who were caught in the 2004 Tsunami, killing countless, stranded & injuring even more.
Naomi Watts, Ewan McGregor & Tom Holland carried the film, not just during & after the Tsunami, but before, when we're getting to know the family. You feel like your part of the family before everything flips upside down. The littlest things that most films overlook are shown & demonstrated. They weren't their perfect family, they were dealing with uncertainty about employment, oldest sibling stubbornness (I'm the eldest sibling, so I can talk from personal experience).
Even with a PG rating, it doesn't shy away from the terrifying natural disaster. There's blood, bodies faced down in the water, injuries are real! I have not been this terrified & gut-wrenched for a film in a long time. But the part that was very different to larger films, there was no big lead up to the tsunami, no weather warning, no experts, no news casters saying get ready. Nothing. Just a few seconds before & they were subtle.
Watts' performance as the scared, struggling to survive & protective mother, Maria, was incredible, the scenes with Holland's Lucas, I don't think there was a moment in the film where I could speak or had a dry eye. Ewan McGregor's Henry showed a terrified father & husband as he looks for his wife & eldest son. I felt & saw his desperation to reunite with his love & children.
I want to forget this film so I can re-watch it with the same admiration. The eye to detail made this film have an edge to other disaster films.
I totally recommend to everyone.
*Spoilers: During the tsunami sequence, there's a moment where Maria & Lucas try to swim to each other when they see a car get pulled to sea, it seems empty, until we hear a baby crying out. It changed the way I saw the car, it had a baby inside before another tsunami hit.