On Oscar Sunday I made one last ditch effort to see all of the nominated performances before the show began at 8:30pm. With that goal in mind, I headed to an early morning matinee of The Impossible at Kendall Square Cinema in Cambridge.
I had seen the preview for the The Impossible when I went to see Perks of Being a Wallflower at the same theater. I teared up then, so I knew I would need a full box of tissues for the feature length film. Don't you worry, I put them right into my purse.
For those who are unfamiliar, The Impossible is the true story of the Belon family, who went on vacation to Thailand and were tragically separated by the tsunami, one of the worst natural disasters in history. As you watch the film you are petrified the entire time, though rationally you know they all survive.
From the very first scene of the film, each time they show the ocean, you see that water as a villain. In those first twenty minutes, each time the camera pans to the beach you wonder, "Is this it? Is this the moment?"
The moment the water rises is even more terrifying than I thought it would be. The Belon parents, played by Naomi Watts and Ewan McGregor, are separated at the time the tsunami hits, and they are also torn apart from their three sons.
After you watch Naomi Watts' character Maria being tossed around like a sock in the washing machine, clanking against trees, wooden beams, furniture and cars, she emerges, gasping for air and spots her oldest son, Lucas (played by Tom Holland). Maria and Lucas lock eyes and traverse the rapidly moving waves to try and reach other. Watching them grasp for each other's hands was heartbreaking. I kept thinking about what that would be like if it were me and my mother, and that only made me cry harder. Yup, openly crying public.
When the waves finally stopped and Maria and Lucas could start to try and make their way to safety, we see that Maria's lower leg has been ripped wide open. Our entire theater audibly winced when the camera zoomed in on her bright red flesh.
Maria and Lucas have to climb a tree to escape the water, but Maria is too weak to climb on her own. The scene where Lucas helps her up, by letting her push off of his hands and shoulders was one of the most painful to watch. That scene right there is what earned Naomi Watts the Oscar nomination.
As the movie went on, each time Maria or Lucas even heard the rustling of the wind, you could see them stop, wait for the water to rise again and then breathe a sign of relief when it didn't. I kept thinking, "Wow, the sound of the wind would scare you for the rest of your life after something like that."
Eventually Maria and Lucas are rescued by local villagers who rush them to the closest hospital. Upon arrival, the hospital was in total chaos. People everywhere with severe injuries, people pushing each other out of the way, people looking for loved ones and no one speaking the same language. It really forced you to realize how impossible it was for separated families to find each another.
Though most of the film focuses on Maria and Lucas, husband Henry was also alive and with the two younger boys near the site of their resort. Well, where it used to be. Buses keep coming to the resort to take people to safety in the mountains, but Henry refuses to leave until he finds Maria.
Eventually he sends his two younger sons ahead of him, now splitting the family into three separate groups.
A day later, Henry decides to start searching the hospitals for Maria and Lucas. He arrives where Maria is being treated and starts to circle the premises. At the same time, Lucas is circling to find Maria some water, and the two younger boys have arrived on a bus, but none of them are aware of each other. My heart was pounding, afraid they wouldn't intersect and they would never be reunited! Remember, I knew in real life they found each other again. It didn't matter.
Ultimately, the youngest boy, Simon, has to pee and so he and brother Thomas hop off the bus. They see Lucas, and then Henry finds them. I started to cry again when they all embraced. This movie is a tough one!
Eventually, when Maria is well enough to travel (after two surgeries), the family boards a plane to Singapore to head to safety. When you see their plane lift off and all those other people left behind still searching for their loved ones, you wonder how anyone got out of there.
The Impossible was an incredible movie. As I said, though you know the family survives, you are completely gripped by their story and the trauma they endured.
Naomi Watts 100 percent deserved her Oscar nomination. She committed to that performance, which was anything but glamorous. She walked with a ripped open leg, climbed a tree while severely injured, coughed up blood in her hospital bed and withered away to a bruised mess while waiting for surgery.
Tom Holland, the actor who plays eldest son Lucas, should have received an Oscar nomination as well. Naomi had 30+ years of life experience and her real life role as a mother to draw from as inspiration, while a boy his age has to play that role all from imagining what those experiences might be like. I was very impressed.
If you decide to see The Impossible, be forewarned, you will spend the entire two hours frightened and crying.
Did you see it?
