metro.co.uk September 1, 2017 A heart-wrenchingly tense survival drama based on 'an incredible true story' of a far more 'homely' looking Spanish family, this is a cut abov...
[The Impossible] shows us devastation, yes, unbelievable havoc, yes, horrific human loss, yes. But also, exemplary courage and love and compassion...
Austin Chronicle January 4, 2013 To dispel the two talking points attending The Impossible, Juan Antonio Bayona’s dramatization of the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami: No...
Although it’s ostensibly based on true events, The Impossible is not so much an inspiring tale of survival as it is an action flick.
Bayona’s skill is evident from the movie’s first moments.
MSN Movies December 19, 2012 'The Impossible' is a confounding misfire: so much artistic vision, combined with moral and emotional shortsightedness.
Daily Telegraph September 14, 2012 Bayona, like Spielberg before him, has the gumption of a master manipulator, and really doesn’t hold back, holding off catharsis, scene...
Globe and Mail December 21, 2012 Urgent yet measured, like the onrushing tide, The Impossible is a real-life disaster flick with a compelling twist.
The Impossible is a nimbly acted drama that is at once a stellar visual achievement and a life-affirming story of familial love and courage.
This is a simple story quite brilliantly told.
Film.com December 18, 2012 …veers between being overwhelming and overwrought.
miami.com January 4, 2013 While it may have been changed for the screen, this story of a family’s ordeal is one from which any parent – any person, really&nb...
Austin Chronicle January 4, 2013 To dispel the two talking points attending The Impossible, Juan Antonio Bayona’s dramatization of the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami: No...
Chicago Reader December 21, 2012 A Saw movie for middlebrows.
The movie is not, as the trailer suggests, a tale of the triumph of the human spirit. It’s about luck. It’s about sadness. But it&rsquo...
I hesitate to use this term, since it is so often equated with hokey, but The Impossible is life-affirming.
richardroeper.com January 17, 2013 This is an unforgettable tribute to the determination of a very special family.
The tsunami sequence is amazing, right up there with the one Clint Eastwood staged in Hereafter.
Toronto Star December 20, 2012 For all the visually impactful moments that all but put an audience directly into the horror of the Boxing Day tsunami in The Impossible, the true...
Hollywood Reporter November 14, 2012 A tremendously realistic disaster movie has an intense emotional payoff.
The Impossible is primal stuff, a tribute to the power of family, to the determination of a mother and father, defying nature, defying the odd...
Salon.com January 3, 2013 An intense and compelling family melodrama from Spanish director Juan Antonio Bayona that sets a new standard for disaster cinema.
A remarkable achievement in filmmaking, a film that is at times devastating, at times emotional, at times inspirational, and always riveting. It&rs...
AV Club December 20, 2012 The Impossible confirms that Bayona is a major talent, with a skill for constructing sequences that build tension as masterfully as Steve...
feeds.boston.com January 3, 2013 An earnest, extremely grueling, prodigiously crafted true-life drama that takes one of the worst natural disasters in recorded history and reduces...
Kind of offensive when you think about it.
Slant Magazine November 22, 2012 A sham realist’s disaster movie, tackily insulting the deaths of 300,000 people by reducing the horrors of the Indian Ocean tsunami to&n...
Visually stunning but manipulative in the extreme – try not to roll your eyes as the various family members miss one another by inches ...
Los Angeles Times December 21, 2012 It is the kind of ode to the human spirit that you hope comes along, and not just during the holiday season.
In the hundred-year history of cinema, few thrillers have been as emotionally compelling as "The Impossible."
Detroit News January 4, 2013 This is a movie about the will to survive that physically acknowledges that will may not be enough.
Movieline December 6, 2012 The latter half of The Impossible is so disappointingly movie-ish, tying a bow on the events after portraying them too vividly to allow them t...
Guardian December 27, 2012 This film is not especially complex, and not subtle, but there is judgment and intelligence in the simple idea of survival being the most agonising...
When it’s over, you will feel enlightened, drained and grateful just to walk away.
Say a prayer that The Impossible is the closest that you or I or anyone anywhere will get to the kind of catastrophe that makes this movie so...
ReelViews December 12, 2012 The Impossible’s strength is its conveyance of the loneliness and chaos that settles in the disaster’s aftermath.
Shockya.com December 20, 2012 A suspenseful, moving and disturbing watch for all the right reasons. Watts and McGregor deliver immensely successful performances, but this is you...
The tsunami comes to life more vividly than the characters, though Watts and young Holland, as her son, deliver strong performances.
Arizona Republic December 20, 2012 "The Impossible" is one of those movies that’s good, but leaves you with the nagging feeling that it could have been better.
Guardian September 12, 2012 Part of the appeal of this affecting and powerful drama is that it puts the viewer right in the moment at every stage, using authentic locations an...
Observer December 12, 2012 An unforgettable film that combines epic spectacle with the intimacy of loving relationships in a celebration of the invincible human spirit.
New York Post December 21, 2012 "The Impossible'' is worth checking out for the acting and effects, but it’s a shame that Bayona couldn’t have approached the stor...
RogerEbert.com December 20, 2012 Here is a searing film of human tragedy.