Tsunami survival story successfully dramatized in The Impossible

The Impossible, a new film from Spanish director Juan Antonio Bayona (The Orphanage), benefits from the fact that it has built-in drama. Based on the true story of a family that somehow survived the horrible tsunami that ripped through Thailand in 2004, it has a natural arc that naturally lends itself to the big screen. Bayona does a good job of not letting the special effects get in the way, either, as he focuses on developing character rather than detailing the scope of the disaster (though he successfully does that, too).

Bayona’s emphasis on character development is apparent right from the film’s start. We gain quite a few insights about the family during the brief opening scene when they’re traveling on the plane to their vacation getaway. We learn that Henry (Ewan McGregor), who’s worried sick that he might have forgot to set the alarm before they left home, stresses the little stuff. And we pick up on the fact that his wife Maria (Naomi Watts) has the ability to calm him, even though she herself is afraid to fly and has a low tolerance for fear. We also learn that their oldest son, 12-year-old Lucas (Tom Holland), doesn’t yet want the responsibility of taking care of his brothers, 7-year-old Thomas (Samuel Joslin) and 5-year-old Simon (Oaklee Pendergast) and thinks he’s a lot tougher than he really is. Of course, when a mighty wave arrives on shore and wipes out their resort, they’re all put to the test. Lucas and his mother are separated from the rest of the family. Badly hurt, mom needs medical attention if she’s to survive. With the help of some townspeople, Lucas gets her to a hospital and awaits her surgery. Meanwhile, Henry has kept Thomas and Simon safe but is determined to find Maria and Lucas.

While he capably spun a supernatural horror story with The Orphanage, Bayona mostly keeps things realistic here and lets the actors take over. Covered in mud and blood, Watts is excellent and the same goes for McGregor (particularly on a phone call back home). Since Watts’s character is incapacitated much of the time, Holland has plenty of screen time and he makes good use of it. He’s terrific as Lucas, the one who’s essentially the film’s central character as he goes through a rites of passage as a result of the disaster.

The film doesn’t dwell much on the tragedy’s impact on the country’s natives (just the white people there on vacation). And the movie’s post-script also doesn’t answer all our questions — Maria’s injuries were so severe, it’s uncertain whether she would fully recover. Ultimately though, this is a disaster movie that defies you not to invest in it emotionally (even though the title gives away the ending) while successfully steering clear of clichés.