Much of the footage strongly begs for historical and legal context that is never given, weakening the credibility of the film's narrative. But there is no denying the striking, unjust scenes of Israeli violence against unarmed protestors.

In one moment, without warning, over 230,000 people lost their lives to a tsunami in 2004. "The Impossible" viscerally communicates the water's awesome destructive force on the body and the following emotional chaos among survivors who drudge through the landscape wondering where the water dragged their loved ones or whether it consumed them eternally.

By the end, I was cringing for the man and his 14 followers who came to deeply trust him. In the beginning, these people were film props being used by a young and ignorant filmmaker to document (or perhaps poke fun of) American spiritual culture. He draws a not-so-subtle symbol of a man's genitals on their foreheads while telling them candidly it's "a penis," which is contextually so outlandish that they naturally assume he is saying "happiness" in his thick accent. Throughout the film, he continues to hide in plain sight, admitting upfront time and again that he is not a teacher. This strange honesty only endears him to his followers, and as the connection between the students and Vikram's alter ego grow, he grows concerned over the potential emotional devastation from his deceit. At the same time, it is through his deeply intimate experience with these students that Vikram finds a sincere and simple message of healing and growth that offers his conscience some salvation. The brilliance is that the students who truly internalized their teacher's message should not care on a spiritual level when they discover he's actually a filmmaker from New Jersey. They are given the truest possible test of their understanding. On a personal level however, he certainly is at their mercy. Hopefully they recognize in this film that he grew as a human being just as much as they did, and that he would obviously not wish to do that to someone ever again. Then again, releasing the film could be considered another act of betrayal.

How did this happen? I can't believe I'm saying this, but if you want to have a nice, relaxing time, watch this gruesome horror movie.

This concept could have bombed in many ways. How do you compellingly film a relationship involving a synthetic, inanimate being? "Cast Away" did it with a volleyball, but the script didn't have to arrange Tom Hanks' character introducing Wilson to his coworkers and loved ones. Absurdity and compassion mix in just the right portions here, gently showing examples on how to be a person. The story progression is tidy, but out of necessity, not laziness or shallowness. The characters have depth and intrigue and are all likeable. I wasn't at all ready to leave any of them.