Movie Review: The Impossible

Going into a movie about one of the deadliest natural disasters in history* . . .  Well, you know it's not going to being an easy thing to sit through.  So why did I want to see it?  Because it's based on the true story of a family of survivors.  I thought it was going to be a touching family drama.  I expected to cry a few tears of joy and leave the theater feeling good about the triumph of the human spirit -- that sort of thing.

It was the hardest movie I've ever sat through.

Perhaps it was so difficult because my expectations were low.  That is, I envisioned a movie like Twister or maybe even Earthquake, in which you see people falling to the ground, but nothing too graphic.  Plus, I've only experienced tornadoes, a very small earthquake, a couple of snow storms, and heavy rain; I had no concept of what a tsunami might look like.

This movie, however, did not leave a lot to the imagination.  By the end of it, I felt exhausted and sore.  I also felt guilty and ungrateful and foolish.  Movies such as these remind me of the absolutely incredible life I have and of the people and things and moments I take for granted.  It's the sort of movie that opens my eyes to a world far-removed from my own, and it is precisely for this reason that I think people should watch it.  In fact, I might go so far as to say that people have a social obligation to watch it.


*The 2004 Indian Ocean Earthquake is the third largest earthquake ever recorded on a seismograph and resulted in a series of devastating tsunamis throughout Southeast Asia.  It is estimated that over 230,000 people were killed during the disaster, and thousands upon thousands more were injured or missing.


Thing I'm thankful for: a family