Movies News

Best of humanity represented in 'The Impossible,' sneak peek previews

By April MacIntyre Dec 21, 2012, 15:39 GMT

The upcoming Spanish-produced, English-language film directed by Juan Antonio Bayona (The Orphanage), stars Naomi Watts and Ewan McGregor.

The perfect Christmas time movie? The heroic and touching tale of Maria Belon, dramatized in "The Impossible" this year.

The upcoming Spanish-produced, English-language film directed by Juan Antonio Bayona (The Orphanage), stars Naomi Watts and Ewan McGregor.

Based on one family’s horrific experience of the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami, the film is a compelling account of tenacity and survival in the face of utter chaos.

Premise

Watts and McGregor are cast as Maria and Henry who, together with their three sons begin their winter vacation in Thailand, looking forward to a few days in sunny paradise.

One morning as the family is playing around the pool, a terrifying roar rises up and a wall of water rushes towards them.

As Maria freezes in fear, a huge wall of black water races across the hotel grounds toward her. Henry tries to protect the two youngest boys, but it’s too late: the wave smashes into him with incredible force and dislodges his grip. Maria is pushed underwater, where she is battered by debris to near death.

She finally surfaces in a raging black sea, which has completely submerged her three-story hotel and the surrounding landscape. Maria gasps for breath while she tries to understand what has just happened, convinced that her family has been obliterated.

There are many lessons in this movie, and the timing is perfect: