The 2004 tsunami comes to vibrant life in this first full trailer for The Impossible

Last Updated on August 5, 2021

Have you seen THE ORPHANAGE? If you not, you need to do so right now. Oh don’t worry, I’ll wait. Back? Okay – rather incredible, right? I have good news for you then, as the next film from Sergio G. Sanchez (writer) and J.A. Bayona (director) is called THE IMPOSSIBLE and now has both a trailer and a promo poster.

While we’ve known about the film for a while now, very little promotional material or information beyond its 2004 tsunami setting has been released. But now we have a beautiful ( albeit Spanish-dubbed) trailer to begin ramping up your anticipation.

I barely have any idea what anyone was saying and I still very much want to see this film.  While disaster epics based on true stories can often stumble into saccharine and/or manipulative avenues of storytelling, I have zero trouble giving the team behind THE ORPHANAGE the complete benefit of the doubt.  It was easily one of the best films I’ve seen in recent years – not just in the horror genre, but in general – and I can’t see any reason why their next collaboration won’t once again be one of the very best things you’ll have seen in a while.

Plot recap: A powerful story based on one family’s survival of the 2004 tsunami, THE IMPOSSIBLE stars Naomi Watts and Ewan McGregor and is directed by J.A. Bayona (THE ORPHANAGE). Maria (Naomi Watts), Henry (Ewan McGregor) and their three sons begin their winter vacation in Thailand, looking forward to a few days in tropical paradise. But on the morning of December 26th, as the family relaxes around the pool after their Christmas festivities the night before, a terrifying roar rises up from the center of the earth. As Maria freezes in fear, a huge wall of black water races across the hotel grounds toward her.

Based on a true story, THE IMPOSSIBLE is the unforgettable account of a family caught, with tens of thousands of strangers, in the mayhem of one of the worst natural catastrophes of our time. But the true-life terror is tempered by the unexpected displays of compassion, courage and simple kindness that Maria and her family encounter during the darkest hours of their lives. Both epic and intimate, devastating and uplifting, THE IMPOSSIBLE is a journey to the core of the human heart.