I have seen more than my fair share of disaster films, and by far, this is one that hit me the hardest and on a personal level.
I have been through more floods than I care to remember. I have been swept away by swift moving water, forced to grab onto a tree and hold on for dear life. I have been taken in by strangers, scared and unsure where my family was and if they were alive.
And I was 5 years old, when this happened. (Around the same age as the middle child in this film).
I had coughed up more floatscum and dirty water.
And I have the mental scars as a result.

And this movie captures all of this and more. (The scene where the Mom and Lucas are sleeping / under anesthesia, and cant dream of anything but the water and the suffering and almost drowning. That is me. From age 5 to age 24. Everynight of my life. Wake up in a cold sweat, from the nightmares. And when the rains fall - nervous and trying to find a way to get home, and get with my family and get to higher ground).
People criticize the ending - the almost empty plane. You have to remember, this was a plane taking people to hospitals and to safety. And for many people, leaving wasnt an option. They had to stay. To find their loved ones. No matter what. (This was what my Mom went through during our first flood. She was rescued first and was taken in by a couple of the neighborhood moms. She stayed in their home long enough to put my brother in a crib (he was 13 months old, and had been held by her all night, while she stood on a dining room table, water up to her waist, waiting for it to end), change her clothes and then back to the water's edge. She waited, with two other moms, until he KNEW that I was safe and coming to her. That is what survivors do- they wait and hope and pray. And cry when then find out - good or bad.

It takes something else for me to get teary eye during a movie - usually when a beloved pet dies. (Yeah, I look at you, "I Am Legend" And you "Hitachi"). But when the brothers find each other and are hugging - yeah, I was feeling a bit emotional.

Incredible story with remarkable performances by Naomi Watts and Tom Holland and amazing staging.

However, Bayona repeats the same mistakes from other movies like "The Orphanage" when he creates an uneasy situation through some unexplained weird behavior.