Maria (Naomi Watts) and Henry (Ewan McGregor) want what any family wants. Some good old-fashioned quality down-time with their children over the holiday. It’s December 24th 2004 and they’ve just arrived to a new resort in the Southeast coast of Asia. Their oldest son, Lucas (Tom Holland) is a bit of a tease always challenging his mother while his younger brothers, Simon and Thomas, just want to play with dad in the pool. concerned. And in the evening… there’s nothing like when the exhaustion of travel dissipates and that calm overcomes you at
that first night restaurant dinner….We’re here! Settled in and relaxed.
Two days later, on Dec 26th, poolside, the family feels a strange breeze, a shift in the universe. Even the birds and critters are humming strangely when suddenly it strikes. A tsunami overtakes hundreds of thousands of people washed away in a matter of seconds. Maria, the mother, holds onto a tree for dear life, her howls of panic tell us death is imminent.
This is a gripping film that reminds us of the furry of mother nature, but also focuses on the instinctive need to save our loved ones rather than save ourselves. Our desire to live suddenly has a bigger desire..them. Without saying who’s alive and who’s dead the near misses of finding the people’s attempt to find one another rips at our hearts.
Lucas becomes a brave boy as he and his mother search to find his father and his brothers. The film is full of tiny precious heart-felt
moments, beautifully directed and acted but the bulk of the hope we feel falls on the shoulders of Watts who has since been nominated (and
rightly so) for best actress at the Oscars. Like some sort of religious experience you will walk out of the cinema believing that miracles can happen! ♔ ♕ ♚ ♛