J.A. Bayona, a protege of Guillermo del Toro and director of "The Orphanage," has returned with a much larger-scale tale of horror inspired by harrowing real-life events.
"The Impossible" is based on one family's experiences during what is sometimes referred to as the "Boxing Day tsunami," a disaster brought on by an earthquake that occurred off the coast of Sumatra, Indonesia shortly after midnight on Dec. 26, 2004; with a death toll of 230,210-280,000, it is the sixth deadliest natural disaster in recorded history.
The actual disaster looks to take place in the first act of 'The Impossible," with the rest of the film dedicated to how the separated family members (including Ewan McGregor and Naomi Watts as the parents) tried to find each other - and, in doing so, were able to help other survivors along the way.
This looks like a powerful and challenging holiday film (and one much more preferable to last year's thematic counterpart, Angelina Jolie's "In the Land of Blood and Honey"). The striking images of the trailer are made all the more emotional by the use of Damien Rice's cover of U2's "One" — that song will definitely get you every time.
Check out the trailer below, or watch it in HD over at iTunes Movie Trailers. "The Impossible" opens Dec. 21.
