By far the best movie of 2012.

Rating: 9/10 (7 January 2013)

The Impossible is the most gripping, heart shattering, intense piece of filmmaking I've seen in quite some time. The human tragedy, horror, fight for survival and unity is based on the harrowing true story of one of the worlds worst natural disasters of our time. 2004, Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami and one family's terrifying account. To me, this is the most powerful, heartfelt; disaster film based on real life events since probably Titanic, if not as grand.
The performances were inspiring and heartbreaking. Naomi Watts gives one of her best and challenging roles to date; to me she deserves an Oscar for her performance. Another standout was Tom Holland and believe it or not this is his first major role, which to me is a bona fide movie star! Tom was the heart and soul of this movie and carried the film like a pro and deserves to be nominated, he was great! Ewan McGregor is always a strong performer and here is no exception, you feel all of his pain and powerful will to survive and find his family that swept away in a blink of an eye. I was also really impressed with the younger siblings in this film, played by newcomers Samuel Joslin and Oaklee Pendergast; you believed every emotion from them. Gripping ride!
Director, Juan Antonio Bayona has created a triumph of a film, especially since this is his first major film, but you may also remember his other and also gripping foreign film, The Orphanage. The guy has mad talent and was bold and relentless in showing the horrors on that fateful day in December. Definitely a director to look out for. Oscar worthy all the way! The writing though, didn't match the effectiveness of everything else, but wasn't distracting from the film, it just could have been more memorable.
Overall, forget about all of the other Oscar contenders, The Impossible is the real human soul of the awards season and an unforgettable watch. The filmmaking, acting, story and spectacle don't get much better than this. A MUST SEE!!!!!