The true story of a family separated and traumatized by the tsunami that hit Thailand on December 26, 2004.

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Thailand, December 26, 2004: as they enjoy the first days of their vacation, an American family finds itself on the beach when a terrifying tsunami destroys all that it hits along the coast. Separated from each other during the catastrophe by the apocalyptic waves, the mother (Naomi Watts) and her oldest son are evacuated to the hospital, while the father (Ewan McGregor), who leaves his other young sons with survivors on a hillside, searches for her in the rubble. In complete shock, he hopes for the impossible: that the family will be reunited safely and soundly...

Based on a family's true story. Juan Antonio Bayona literally plunges the audience under water into a whirlpool where the smallest object can be potentially fatal. Despite amazingly real underwater scenes, the Spanish director kills the action by overusing violins and tear-jerking effects. And it seems that only Westerners suffered the experience: would the subject have been less moving if the drama had taken place in a non-touristic region? And more importantly, would it have been made into a big budget movie?