The Impossible (2012)

Incredible story with remarkable performances by Naomi Watts and Tom Holland and amazing staging.
However, Bayona repeats the same mistakes from other movies like "The Orphanage" when he creates an uneasy situation through some unexplained weird behavior.

After a bit of a bumpy flight to Thailand, a family arrive in Phuket for what ought to have been a dream holiday. Well mother nature had other plans and a earthquake far out at sea generated a series of tsunamis that we now know killed almost a quarter of a million people. That could well have included "Henry" (Ewan McGregor), "Maria" (Naomi Watts) and their children "Lucas" (Tom Holland), "Simon" (Oaklee Pendergast) and "Thomas" (Samuel Joslin) but despite being out in the first wave of the encroaching water, they somehow manage to cling onto anything that will float, to the sturdy trunks of the trees and though separated do survive. That's just the start of their troubles, though - "Maria" is severely injured and with their elder and quite smart son "Lukas". The others - so we are fortunately spared much of the mediocre McGregor - are elsewhere with all looking to repatriate amidst the chaos of debris and mayhem left by the now retreated seawater. The thrust of the drama features mother and son, with quite decent and convincing efforts from both as they must make it to some semblance of safety and then try to get much needed medical help. It's based on the real event, and the photography quite potently illustrates just how devastating the waves were on these low lying islands that were designed for pleasure and tranquility - there were no sea defences and the structures ill-prepared for the sheer power of the swell. There's a spirit to the narrative too - the locals and the tourists all mucking together to help in a veritable hotchpotch of languages and priorities. The pacing is frenetic at times, lingering at others and that also helps give us a sense of the perils faced by all trying to come to terms with the destruction and this is a surprisingly better watch than I was expecting.