The Impossible

"The most harrowing disaster movie in many a moon."

"Harrowing conviction hammered home even harder by the spot-on casting."

"There is a troubling complacency and a lack of compassion... less an examination of mass destruction than the tale of a spoiled holiday."

"Not especially complex, and not subtle, but there is judgment and intelligence in the simple idea of survival being the most agonising thing, and making survivor guilt the psychological aftershock of a shattering and irreparable blow."

"Here is a searing film of human tragedy."

"It is the kind of ode to the human spirit that you hope comes along, and not just during the holiday season."

"Kind of offensive when you think about it."

"A tremendously realistic disaster movie has an intense emotional payoff."

"This rousing, superbly acted, no-holds-barred melodrama is a mighty feat of physical filmmaking."

"Confirms that Bayona is a major talent, with a skill for constructing sequences that build tension as masterfully as Steven Spielberg did in his '70s heyday."