Naomi Watts and Ewen McGregor are English couple Maria and Henry Bennett who head to Thailand for their Christmas holiday with their three sons Lucas (Tom Hollan), Simon and Thomas.
It all seems like a normal fun holiday until that fateful morning when the ocean swallowed up the resort and most of the inland area for miles and miles.
Maria and Lucas emerge from the wave and eventually manage to find each other and make it to safer ground. Maria suffers a badly cut leg in the process. They rescue a young boy, Daniel, and are saved by a group of locals who take them to the nearest hospital, believing the rest of the family had died.
I don't really need to go into the finer points of the story, they unfold in time.
I know Naomi Watts is nominated for an Oscar for her role and she is very good but it surprises me that Tom Holland, who plays young Lucas, didn't get some recognition. He's stunning and really is the heart of the story. The lessons he learns from the ordeal are so poignant and the main lesson is something we should all pay more attention to. I'll let you figure that one out for yourself but is should stand out.
It really is amazing how detailed the re-enactment of the tsunami is. I know technology continues to forge ahead but it almost looks like they really staged one.
As I have said, this isn't an easy film to watch. It is heartbreaking at times, shocking to watch given we know it really happened just over eight years ago, though you will find it strangely uplifting in hindsight.
Definitely a well made, well told film with a delicate topic given its reality.
An 8 out of 10.
No comments:
Post a Comment