The savage force

Rating: 6/10 (26 January 2019)

I was in the Far East a few months after the 2004 Tsunami. I stayed in an island that was relatively only mildly touched by the disaster. The locals would not go to the beach and it was largely deserted.
The Impossible is based on true events. The family concerned were actually Spanish.
Maria (Naomi Watts) and Henry (Ewan McGregor) and their three young children are holidaying in Khao Lak, Thailand for Christmas. Suddenly the hotel is hit by a Tsunami. The family are seperated. Maria and eldest son Lucas (Tom Holland) are on their own. Maria is badly injured but they need to get to safety and they do not know what happened to the rest of the family.
The film spends no time in scene setting. The disaster happens straight away and it is well staged. The movie is split into two. You really do wonder what happened to Henry and the other two children as the focus is on Maria and Henry.
Only later do we see Henry and the other children survive as he tries to search for Maria and Lucas. By this time she is desperately ill in hospital.
The film has a harrowing performance from Watts. Holland rises to the challenge as a boy who tries to make himself useful in reuniting other families. His performance reminded me of the young Christian Bale in Empire of the Sun.
If there is a criticism. It actually pulls back on the chaotic destruction and panic that existed in the region at the time. Villages and local families were destroyed. Many people were split up. The feel good factor just felt a little jarring and also appropriate.