Moving film with outstanding performances and a story that everyone should be told

Rating: 7/10 (21 January 2013)

This film is so hard-hitting and most of that comes from the foreboding at the beginning. However, despite knowing what is going to happen it still shocks you and the foreboding only helps add to your experience. Ewan McGregor and Naomi Watts both give fantastic performances in their roles but are outshone by the child cast. Oaklee Pendergast and Samuel Joslin are brilliant and I would have liked to see more of them in the story and Tom Holland is perfectly cast as the older son Lucas. His acting is phenomenal for his young age and I would definitely like to see him get an award for this performance. A lot of people have slated the film for focusing on one vacationing family instead of the local people who were affected also but I believe that you understand the scale of the disaster despite this. It was a lot more gory than I expected and although I have seen gory horror films (Saw, Se7en etc.) I found this much harder to watch because you know it is based on a true story and when watching, due to the amazing performances you really connect with the characters. My friend was close to leaving the cinema he found it so hard to watch but afterwards he said it was worth getting through and he was glad he watched the rest. There is also some nudity, but it is not sexual and whilst I don't think all of it was necessary, it only adds to the sense of disaster. Juan Antonio Bayona's direction is fantastic and the cinematography is breath-taking, despite the tragedy being told it is quite beautiful. The effects are also incredible and this helps to bring home the impact the tsunami had. I didn't know much of the tragedy as I was only young when it happened, but this film really opened my eyes and helped me to understand how tragic the event was. The performances and the story of 'The Impossible' is so moving and the music adds to this, out of the five of us who went to see it, only one of us didn't cry and she was still shaken by it. I recommend taking tissues just in case. The whole audience in the cinema was entranced by this film which you do not see often. You really connect with the characters and the story hits hard. Although this film has a big emotional impact however, underneath it has a lovely message about the amazing endurance of humanity and the love between families that can withstand so much. This is not an easy film to watch but I completely recommend it, to the point where I think is should be compulsory for all to watch it.
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