PG-13, 114 minutes

Starring: Naomi Watts, Ewan McGregor, Tom Holland

4.5/ 5 stars

          The Impossible centers on a small family of tourists in Thailand in 2004. The day after Christmas of that year, the sixth deadliest natural disaster hit. A massive earthquake occurred and triggered a tsunami in the Indian Ocean which killed close to 300,000 people. This is a true story of this families struggle after the water hit their hotel and they were separated, largely focusing on the relationships between the parents (Watts and McGregor) and their three kids.

First off, let me say I don’t like kids. I don’t like kid things, I don’t like kid movies, and I just find kids kind of annoying. With that said, I have never cried so many times in a movie before in my life. I bet I cried six to seven times in this powerful, moving movie. Watts and McGregor give heart wrenching performances as the husband and wife who are torn apart by this disaster. Watts brought me to tears more than once with her screams of horror, he tears of pain and of hope. She knocks the role out of the park and she will easily be nominated for an Oscar. McGregor too gives a stellar performance as he scours the wreckage, seeking desperately to find his wife and son (Holland.) New comer Holland is excellent as the eldest son and he tries desperately to help his mother and others around him while at the same time looking for his dad and little siblings.

The most intense, cringe filled scenes are at the beginning when the actually tsunami takes places. I have never seen a more realistic, shocking, even horrifying recreation of a tsunami before. I am awestruck about the sheer intensity director J.A. Bayona was able to bring to this without having it feel hokey. My only complaint is the script wasn’t very strong but the amazing acting, realistic effects, and strong direction made up for that. The Impossible is impossible not to cry in.