The Impossible

Starring: Ewan McGregor, Naomi Watts
Director: Juan Antonio Bayona
Rating: ●●●○○ - Hopeful

The Impossible is a movie based on a the true story of a young family vacationing in Thailand as they struggle to survive and reunite in the aftermath of the devastating 2004 Southeast Asia tsunami.
That natural disaster was the probably the worst in history killing over 230,000 people in fourteen countries.
The beginning of this movie is incredibly similar to the first part of Hereafter directed by Clint Eastwood in 2010. In both movies we as spectators are submerged by the tsunami wave and struggle to get out of the flood.
Then while Hereafter moves on and develops other themes, The Impossible focuses on the experience of that tragedy, making you live the struggle for survival and the panic of losing your loved ones, it brings you there with all the drama.
Because of this The Impossible ends up being a powerful movie thanks also to the good interpretations by Ewan McGregor and Naomi Watts.
The only limit that I would find to this movie is that the story is a bit straight forward, without many surprises.
Perhaps after the shock of the tsunami wave, no one wants more surprises in this movie.