Every now and again, a natural phenomenon reminds us how little control we actually have over this planet – a lesson painfully learned by many during the devastating tsunami that rocked Southeast Asia in 2004. “The Impossible” tells the unlikely true story of one family caught in the eye of the madness, giving us a disturbingly authentic account of a disaster that no one can prepare for.
Avoiding the sweeping, epic feel of a mainstream movie about such an event, “The Impossible” certainly isn’t entertainment in the traditional sense. But in giving us a more documentary-type account of an incredible story of survival, director Juan Antonio Bayona whips together a memorable film with vivid, overpowering imagery that will probably have you squirming in your seat.
Maria (Naomi Watts) and Henry (Ewan McGregor) seem to have it all figured out during the opening of “The Impossible.” With three young boys, they head out to a beautiful resort in Thailand to celebrate the holiday season in privilege and pleasure. In one early exchange, the couple discusses how important Henry’s job is to the family, with both expressing some worry that they’ll be able to maintain their lifestyle if his profession takes a turn for the worst. Staying in a neatly manicured resort that carves nature into the perfect playhouse for the wealthy, they’re completely cut off from randomness, as everything has been carefully planned for their benefit.
But trouble is brewing. In a few eerie shots similar to what you might see in a horror movie, director Bayona teases the audience by showing us an ocean that seems to be stalking the coastline. Knowing the subject, “The Impossible” has the feeling of a slasher film in the early going, as if the ocean is patiently watching the happy vacationers while it waits for the perfect time to strike the unsuspecting victims. Without a warning system of any kind, the inhabitants are about as prepared as the unfortunate souls who happened to be living at the bottom of Mount Vesuvius when it started to rumble in 79 A.D.
What ensues is nothing short of shocking and terrifying. One minute, Maria is digging through a book and keeping an eye on her kids. The next, she’s frozen as a wall of water slips over the buildings and starts taking down everything in its sights with indifference. After her world is completely flipped on its head, Maria finds herself desperately clinging to a large tree as the ocean whips by, perhaps wondering if this is all some intricate nightmare.
Because “The Impossible” is billed as the amazing true story of a family, we know that she’s not alone, and soon her son Lucas (Tom Holland) is helping her through the catastrophe as best as a 12-year-old boy knows how. Cut off from the rest of her family, there’s nothing left to do but try to survive and hope that the ocean was merciful in regards to her other loved ones.
Though the entire cast appears to be dragged through hell, Naomi Watts in particular has to dig deep to play a woman on the precipice of death for much of the film. Youngster Tom Holland is also convincing as a boy who is instantly forced to grow up and face a dire situation that would have broken the spirits of many.
Much the way that Danny Boyle’s “127 Hours” was both painful and illuminating, “The Impossible” turns into one harrowing tale of survival that isn’t for the squeamish or faint of heart. As the family struggles to not only survive the initial surge but to find order amidst the chaos, they are particularly easy to root for because “The Impossible” refuses to succumb to exaggeration.
Though this makes for a film filled with rough dialog and some excruciatingly real moments, the imagery is so startling that it’s easy to get sucked into the storyline and root for our family to pull through against the incredible odds. Even if Bayona relies too often on aerial shots of the devastation to paint the picture, which gets redundant after a while, he shows that he has a natural feel for visual storytelling and a knack for drawing the audience into the fold.
Despite parts of the third act that feel over dramatized and even fabricated, “The Impossible” feels too real for us to complain, and it might cause you to keep an eye on the ocean the next time you head for the coast.
There is a more entertaining film to be made about the material, but maybe not a better one. In focusing intensely on the story of the family, we don’t get the grand heroics you might expect from a Hollywood film about a tsunami with 100-foot waves and mass chaos. Instead we get a grueling experience filled with vivid details and small heroics that is much closer to what likely happened.
At one point, a non-English speaking Good Samaritan drops off Maria and disappears back into the chaos without anyone getting a chance to properly thank him for saving her life. A different movie might have embellished and made up a story where there wasn’t one, but “The Impossible” has too much respect for the selfless people who lightened the tragedy that day.
When the film builds to what feels like its inevitable climax, we see that “The Impossible” isn’t a disaster movie at all, but a thank you letter to the strangers that helped find a silver lining where there didn’t seem to be one.
by RTT Staff Writer
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