Aftershock.

Rating: 9/10 (10 January 2013)

Deciding to go out on New Years Day to my town centre,I quickly realised that the only place open was the cinema.Queing up in a pretty long line,I found out when I got to the font,that due to the Christopher McQuarrie film Jack Reacher having already been playing for 20 minutes,there was only going to be one movie,which was going to start in the next 30 minutes.
With having read some very interesting material about the filming for Juan Antonio Bayona follow-up to his 2007 Horror film The Orphanage,I decided that it would be a good idea to see Bayona show the impossible.
The Plot:
December 24 2004:
Feeling in need of a relaxing holiday after both having had a hectic and busy working year,Maria and Henry Belon decide to take their children Lucas,Thomas and Simon to a luxury resort in Thailand,so that they can all have a wonderful Christmas holiday.
December 26 2004:
Continuing their celebrations,the family join all of the other residents in the resort,by relaxing next to the resorts huge swimming pool.As all of the residents continue their celebration's by the pool,a huge tsunami hits the building,which quickly destroys the resort and all of the surrounding area.
Pulling herself out of the wreckage,Maria quickly discovers Lucas holding on for his life as the tsunami destroys everything in its path,franticly searching round for the rest of her family,Maria begins to fear that the tsunami may have ripped her family apart,when she finds no sign at all of Henry,Thomas and Simon being alive.
View on the film:
Going against the grain of the typical Disaster movie outline,where the first half of the film is used to build anticipation for "the big bang" of the second half,the screenplay by Sergio G. Sanchez and Maria Belon instead opens the movie at full force.
Along with putting first time viewers of the film in the disorientated state of the survivors as they find themselves caught up in a terrible event,also allows for the writers to quickly change the audiences focus from anticipation of seeing "the big bang" scenes on the screen,to being caught up in the intimate drama taking place between the Belon family and other people,in their attempt to make sense of what has happened in the aftershock of the event.
Closely working with sound effects editor Marc Bech,director Juan Antonio Bayona displays an ear for chilling sounds that reverberate to his Horror past,from drowning sounds in & out so that the viewer hears the disorientated sounds noises the characters hear as their ears get filled with water,to isolating each of the rip,tears and snaps (relalisticly done by prosthetic designer Floris Schuller) that the Belon's and the other survivors have to try and deal with in the aftermath,that lead to a large number of winces and gasping sounds being made from the audience in the screening that I went to.
Along with his expert skills at sound design,Bayona also shows that he is able to mix a number of well handled wide shots that show the astonishingly non-CGI tsunami destroying the location,with a raw,rough and jittery (not shaky cam!) extreme close-up style,which pulls the viewer away from focusing on the tsunami itself,to instead focus on the confused,terrified and jittery survivors of the tragedy.
Whilst the way that Maria finds her son Lucas (played by Tom Holland) and other similar events in the movie do have a whiff of Hollywood serendipity,the lead cast are able to make the flaw one that is easily forgivable,thanks to giving non-ego driven performances that feels strongly connected to the tragic events that they and millions of other people are a part of.
Tearing any hints of Hollywood glamour apart,Naomi Watts gives an excellent,gritty performance as Maria Belon,with Watts display of fear,confusion and desperation hitting the audience with maximum impact,as she shows Maria trying to hold onto anything to stop her from being pulled deeper into the chaos taking place.
Checking up the casts list of credits on Wikipedia after seeing the movie,I was shocked to discover that The Impossible was 16 year old Tom Holland's film debut!.Being featured in 90% of the film,and also acting opposite Watts and a very good Ewan McGregor,Tom Holland shows that he is more than able to hold his own by giving an extraordinary performance that shows Lucas attempting to remain strong in the harsh aftershock,whilst also showing subtle signs of doubt,as Lucas begins to fear that the impossibility of losing all of his family,may have just become possible.