The 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami is the third largest earthquake ever recorded and caused incalculable damage, as well as killing close to a quarter of a million people. Striking multiple countries with coastlines on the Indian Ocean, Thailand was one of the countries hardest hit by the disaster. It was an event that made the world stand still, particularly in societies that celebrate Christmas as the quake occurred on 26th December. Creating a film about such a disaster was always going to strike a nerve and needed to be handled extremely sensitively, but the extraordinary story of Maria Belon and her family was one that resonated with so many in Europe. With at the time relative newcomer J.A. Bayona at the helm of an adaptation of her family’s plight, it seems that The Impossible really can come true.
Whilst enjoying a family holiday in Thailand for Christmas, the Bennett family consisting of Maria (Naomi Watts) and Henry (Ewan McGregor), and their three sons, Lucas (Tom Holland), Thomas (Samuel Joslin), and Simon (Oaklee Pendergast) find themselves swept away by giant waves that destroy everything in their path. Lucas must aid his gravely injured mother, whilst Henry goes searching for them after rescuing his two youngest sons.
When casting a critical eye over The Impossible you need to consider both the small picture, what the film is actually showing you, and then also the bigger picture of how the film represents the tragedy that was the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami.
In terms of the small picture, The Impossible is a fantastic film. For the majority of the runtime you’re with Maria and Lucas, as within the family unit they endure much more than Henry and the younger sons. They’re swept miles inland, and Maria sustains some truly horrendous injuries as a result. This fight against the elements is a harrowing and truly thrilling watch, and both Watts and Holland (in his first film role) deliver truly outstanding performances.
The way in which Bayona depicts the scale of the destruction is, for want of a better word, magnificent. Filmed using practical effects, scale models, and water tanks, rather than relying on CGI, the actual tsunami strike when the water rushes through the holiday resort and pushes Watts & Holland inland is simply incredible.
Henry’s story deals with the immediate aftermath of the tsunami, and trying to find his wife and eldest son, whilst balancing needing to protect his two youngest sons whom he has already reunited with. There’s one scene in particular which is arguably the most vulnerable and raw performance I have ever seen McGregor give, and it did bring me to tears whilst watching it.
Interestingly I was not aware that The Impossible was based on a true story and so I felt that the ending was too happy, and entirely unrealistic given the circumstances. So, if like me you weren’t aware that yes, this family do actually exist and they did all make it out alive, it could leave you slightly unsatisfied at the end due to it seeming entirely unrealistic in contrast to how bleak the rest of the film tends to be. I did also frequently find myself shouting at the TV at a number of decisions Henry made, and these decisions were made by the real-life Enrique Alvarez (husband to Maria Belon). Within the context of the film I feel that these decisions are only there to create drama, but if that’s really what happened then I suppose there’s not much that can be done, I can’t really hold that against the film for retaining these decisions or maintaining the relatively happy ending the family had.
Whilst enjoying a family holiday in Thailand for Christmas, the Bennett family consisting of Maria (Naomi Watts) and Henry (Ewan McGregor), and their three sons, Lucas (Tom Holland), Thomas (Samuel Joslin), and Simon (Oaklee Pendergast) find themselves swept away by giant waves that destroy everything in their path. Lucas must aid his gravely injured mother, whilst Henry goes searching for them after rescuing his two youngest sons.
When casting a critical eye over The Impossible you need to consider both the small picture, what the film is actually showing you, and then also the bigger picture of how the film represents the tragedy that was the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami.
In terms of the small picture, The Impossible is a fantastic film. For the majority of the runtime you’re with Maria and Lucas, as within the family unit they endure much more than Henry and the younger sons. They’re swept miles inland, and Maria sustains some truly horrendous injuries as a result. This fight against the elements is a harrowing and truly thrilling watch, and both Watts and Holland (in his first film role) deliver truly outstanding performances.
The way in which Bayona depicts the scale of the destruction is, for want of a better word, magnificent. Filmed using practical effects, scale models, and water tanks, rather than relying on CGI, the actual tsunami strike when the water rushes through the holiday resort and pushes Watts & Holland inland is simply incredible.
Henry’s story deals with the immediate aftermath of the tsunami, and trying to find his wife and eldest son, whilst balancing needing to protect his two youngest sons whom he has already reunited with. There’s one scene in particular which is arguably the most vulnerable and raw performance I have ever seen McGregor give, and it did bring me to tears whilst watching it.
Interestingly I was not aware that The Impossible was based on a true story and so I felt that the ending was too happy, and entirely unrealistic given the circumstances. So, if like me you weren’t aware that yes, this family do actually exist and they did all make it out alive, it could leave you slightly unsatisfied at the end due to it seeming entirely unrealistic in contrast to how bleak the rest of the film tends to be. I did also frequently find myself shouting at the TV at a number of decisions Henry made, and these decisions were made by the real-life Enrique Alvarez (husband to Maria Belon). Within the context of the film I feel that these decisions are only there to create drama, but if that’s really what happened then I suppose there’s not much that can be done, I can’t really hold that against the film for retaining these decisions or maintaining the relatively happy ending the family had.
It's when you look at The Impossible within the context of the bigger picture, and how it represents the tsunami that it begins to collapse under the weight of expectations. This is one family’s perspective and therefore does not account for the thousands of others affected by the disaster. Where The Impossible shoots itself in the foot is in changing the nationality of the family. The real-life Alvarez-Belon family are Spanish, but in The Impossible they are quite clearly an English middle class white family. This at the time of release, and especially now when watching it a decade later brings up so many problems regarding whitewashing and racial disparity. Changing the family’s nationality doesn’t change what happened to them so bringing in the argument of them being English middle class is irrelevant, however I do wonder whether had The Impossible been a Spanish language film with continental European actors that more closely resembled the Alvarez-Belon family, would it have avoided this controversy in the first place?
The film’s narrow viewpoint also doesn’t allow for any perspective from the native Thai population, which would have been significantly different to that of a tourist who could leave the destruction behind them. There is one scene in particular where Maria is given rudimentary medical assistance by indigenous people and then taken to a hospital, despite the fact that their home has been destroyed. What I think Bayona was trying to achieve here was portray a sense of shared humanity, something that was widely reported throughout the aftermath of the tsunami. But it does toe that line of the white woman being given higher priority than the already poverty-stricken natives.
What really surprised me with The Impossible was just how family friendly the film is despite its horrific subject matter, and even its graphic depiction of injury. There’s a shot of Watts shortly after the first wave strikes where she’s wading through debris, and when the extent of her injuries becomes apparent it’s a moment that will leave you reeling in sympathetic discomfort. But despite this, I would say that The Impossible does such a great job of being a champion of the human spirit, and for sensitively depicting such a tragic event that it would likely be suitable for children as young as their early teens. There’s a lot of moments that are difficult to stomach, but it never feels like it’s showing you blood or injury for the sake of entertainment, and Bayona always does so with a level of maturity and restraint that many other filmmakers may not have had.
The Impossible is a really great film, and I would recommend it if you’re in the need for a good cry as well as something to restore your faith in humanity. The 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami will always be a dark chapter in human history, but The Impossible not only manages to convey the severity and widespread anguish of such an event, but does so whilst underpinning that despite all of this pain and suffering there was a real sense of community amongst those affected. It certainly has its faults when you consider it within the bigger picture, but as a snapshot of what one family experienced during that awful time it manages to do so much good that it’s strengths far outweigh its faults.
The film’s narrow viewpoint also doesn’t allow for any perspective from the native Thai population, which would have been significantly different to that of a tourist who could leave the destruction behind them. There is one scene in particular where Maria is given rudimentary medical assistance by indigenous people and then taken to a hospital, despite the fact that their home has been destroyed. What I think Bayona was trying to achieve here was portray a sense of shared humanity, something that was widely reported throughout the aftermath of the tsunami. But it does toe that line of the white woman being given higher priority than the already poverty-stricken natives.
What really surprised me with The Impossible was just how family friendly the film is despite its horrific subject matter, and even its graphic depiction of injury. There’s a shot of Watts shortly after the first wave strikes where she’s wading through debris, and when the extent of her injuries becomes apparent it’s a moment that will leave you reeling in sympathetic discomfort. But despite this, I would say that The Impossible does such a great job of being a champion of the human spirit, and for sensitively depicting such a tragic event that it would likely be suitable for children as young as their early teens. There’s a lot of moments that are difficult to stomach, but it never feels like it’s showing you blood or injury for the sake of entertainment, and Bayona always does so with a level of maturity and restraint that many other filmmakers may not have had.
The Impossible is a really great film, and I would recommend it if you’re in the need for a good cry as well as something to restore your faith in humanity. The 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami will always be a dark chapter in human history, but The Impossible not only manages to convey the severity and widespread anguish of such an event, but does so whilst underpinning that despite all of this pain and suffering there was a real sense of community amongst those affected. It certainly has its faults when you consider it within the bigger picture, but as a snapshot of what one family experienced during that awful time it manages to do so much good that it’s strengths far outweigh its faults.