A new trailer and two new images for director J.A. Bayona’s (The Orphanage) drama The Impossible have been released.  The film stars Naomi Watts and Ewan McGregor as parents of a family caught in the tsunami that hit southeast Asia in 2004.  The tsunami scenes look genuinely terrifying, but it appears as if the majority of the film will focus on the aftermath of the disaster, as Watts and McGregor are separated with different members of their family.  It’s refreshing a take that focuses on humanity’s selflessness in a time of need, and hopefully we’ll see Bayona explore this theme further when the full film hits theaters.  This trailer is damn effective (set to the musical stylings of Damien Rice), so hopefully we've got something special headed our way.

Hit the jump to watch the trailer and check out the new images.  The film will screen at the Toronto Film Festival next month and opens in theaters on December 21st.

Click over to Apple to watch in HD.

Here’s the synopsis for The Impossible:

Maria (Naomi Watts), Henry (Ewan McGregor) and their three sons begin their winter vacation in Thailand, looking forward to a few days in tropical paradise. But on the morning of December 26th, as the family relaxes around the pool after their Christmas festivities the night before, a terrifying roar rises up from the center of the earth. As Maria freezes in fear, a huge wall of black water races across the hotel grounds toward her. Based on a true story, THE IMPOSSIBLE is the unforgettable account of a family caught, with tens of thousands of strangers, in the mayhem of one of the worst natural catastrophes of our time. But the true-life terror is tempered by the unexpected displays of compassion, courage and simple kindness that Maria and her family encounter during the darkest hours of their lives. Both epic and intimate, devastating and uplifting, THE IMPOSSIBLE is a journey to the core of the human heart.