This movie sports one of the most emotionally tortuous openings in recent film history, if you buy the horrible seriousness of this scene in which our hero watches his wife’s life be threatened.

Accepting the raw emotion on display here requires two things. You must be willing to forget about Tom Cruise’s personal life of the last five years and accept that he is stand-up hero Ethan Hunt. You must also—and this is the more crucial component—have loved someone in your life deeply and completely.

If you haven’t cherished someone so much that you’d risk your own life to save theirs, have never had a nightmare in which you woke up terrified at the possibility of losing them, and can’t really imagine ever being so dependent on another person that your happiness depends on their presence, then you won’t fully “get” this movie.

This spy film is less about rescuing the world from some madman and a weapon of mass destruction—though that inevitable element plays a part—than it is about doing whatever is necessary to save a loved one's life.

It’s that simple.

Ethan Hunt’s desire to prevent his wife’s death motivates most of the film’s action, making his far-out stunts and risky ventures seem at least psychologically plausible. There’s still a bit of predictable fantasy involved in the physical aspects of Ethan’s exploits, but this is forgivable because most of us can imagine doing equally crazy things in an attempt to rescue an imperiled spouse or child.

Abrams’ movie will do well over the long run for the same reason his Alias and Lost shows have done so well, because he never fails to lace the enticing suspense of adventure with the deeper excitement of relational intimacy.