The Impossible review

 Number 689 on the top 1000 films of all time is the 2012 disaster film 'The Impossible.'

Based on the true story of Spanish doctor Maria Belon and her family, The Impossible details how she and her family survived the 2004 Boxing Day Tsunami that devastated South-East Asia. In the film, the family are British and their surname is Bennet. They consist of Maria (Naomi Watts,) husband Henry (Ewan Mcgregor,) oldest son Lucas (Tom Holland) in his debut role, and younger sons Thomas (Samuel Joslin) and Simon (Oaklee Pendergast.)

I was very conflicted by this film. It began brilliantly, but quickly descended into contrivances and melo-drama. The first fifteen-twenty minutes was edge-of-the-seat stuff. We are given a nice introduction to the Bennet family - they are a family like any other. Henry is worried about losing his job, Maria is wondering whether she should return to work and the three boys squabble with each other like brothers tend to do. But as they arrive at their Thai resort, they think they're in for the holiday of a lifetime.

And then the tsunami hits. And this looked spectacular. Spanish director J.A Bayona made the decision to use real waves instead of CGI. To maintain realism, he also had Naomi Watts and Tom Holland spend five gruelling weeks filming in a water tank. And it totally paid off. My heart was in my mouth the whole time. The action was immediate and the tension was high. And then it all goes downhill.

In the aftermath of the tsunami while being caught in the rushing water and battered with debris, Maria and Lucas find each other. Maria is badly injured. And they also find another little boy before they were rescued by Thai villagers and taken to hospital. Meanwhile, Henry finds his sons and sends them away to a refugee camp while he searches for Maria and Lucas in the different hospitals. And eventually the family reunite. Everything seemed too easy. I thought the characters would struggle to find one another. I thought they would be battling against the elements trying to survive. But the film skipped over all this. And that killed the narrative momentum.

I am not familiar with the real-life story, so I can only assume that this did happen in real life. But I do wonder if Bayona exaggerated or changed things for dramatic effect. Perhaps I'm just in disbelief that an entire family could survive such a devastating event. It killed over 200,000 people. But I guess that's why the film is called the Impossible.

The action was on-point. For a debut role, Tom Holland was brilliant. He was only fourteen, playing a twelve-year-old, but he acted with the maturity of somebody twice his age. After Maria is taken to hospital, Lucas gets to work helping to reunite other lost families. Maybe he acts unrealistically mature. I certainly was not as mature as him at his age. And I would not be as mature as that in his situation. But then again, I would have been dead within the first few minutes.

Naomi Watts rightfully earned a Best Actress Oscar nomination and Ewan Macgregor was great as well. A particularly touching moment sees him break down after he calls his father-in-law at home. He is lent a phone by a kindly German man Karl (Sonke Mohring) who is also trying to find his family. It was a lovely emotional beat.

Overall, I was left a little disappointed by the Impossible. It had brilliant acting and the production value, but the writing did let it down.