Clifton Hill

The third (but first recognized) directional feature by Albert Shin, "Disappearance at Clifton Hill", provides a subtle but effective slow-burning small town mystery / psychological drama / modern noir thriller, albeit one that's potential is only half realized. With great attention for detail (and a little less for the bigger picture), competent performances, intriguing setting & atmospheric cinematography and sound design "Disappearance at Clifton Hill" should please the fans of oddball indie thrillers.

This is, in its structure and essence, more or less, a standard mystery, but a good one, with bonus style points. The small town - faded town backdrop adds another point, and so does the pleasantly complicated and conflicted lead character of Abby, portrayed by Tuppence Middleton. The story is intriguing and compelling enough, but starts to fizzle out a bit towards the end with the screenwriters pulling a minor clutch with the very last scene. Throughout the movie, Abby sometimes connects the dots too easily and some moments in the rather serious and morbid story should have felt a little heavier than they did. You could say "Disappearance at Clifton Hill" pulls a few punches. Nevertheless, director Albert Shin knows how to orchestrate this symphony and every scene feels careful, peculiar, atmosphere-rich. Despite the never dissatisfactory eccentric detail and all the tasty, subtle flavor, the movie frequently tends to get lost in itself, resulting in "the bigger picture" being overly convoluted on surface while actually being relatively flat below. Technical side doesn't disappoint though, the original score by Alex Sowinski and Leland Whitty works wonders and is a major player in achieving the movie's peculiar atmosphere. The cinematography earns a compliment or two as well, "Disappearance at Clifton Hill" manages to excel at visually portraying a historically glowing, but faded and decaying community with a sparkle of unfamiliar nostalgia here and there. The audiovisual and aesthetical work on this movie rests on the level which I simply call top tier indie stuff.

In the end "Disappearance at Clifton Hill" stays above average and just more to impress with than to underwhelm with. Definitely recommended to the fans of indie mysteries, oddball thrillers and small town hurts. My rating:

This is an interesting film that you need to really watch. It teaches you to listen to your children, people!!!

AND the ending, which has confused so many people, I found to be crystal clear. And brilliant!! If you think about it, you know exactly who he is and what he's going to do.

I gave it a 7 instead of an 8 or 9 because there was some unnecessary minutia in there that could have easily been left of and strengthened the main story.

Enjoy! It's a thinking person's movie.

The atmosphere is great, the story captivating, with tension building up. Unfortunately, things get messed up with the main character's backstory. I still didn't get the ending of this movie. Anyone to help me understand who actually did what ? i cannot find any answer online as everyone else seems to be confused...

It supposed to be a thriller about a boy being kidnapped. But it's tonaly all over the place. There's moments I'd swear were going for comedy. The ott magicians are too light for a thriller. The shockingly dodgy wigs and facial hair trying to deage people back to the 90s and then having a young guy playing an old guy in a wheel chair. David Cronnenbergs whole performance was a laughable mess too.

The lead actress is fine though, she does what she can to make it all seem at least coherent, only just though.

Disappearance At Clifton Hill: Abby (Tuppence Middleton) returns to her home town on the death of her mother; against her sister's wishes she tries to keep the family motel running. Abby also has dark memories of the kidnapping of a boy she witnessed 25 years before. The problem is that Abby is a pathological liar so unsurprisingly the police and her sister are reluctant to believe this late report. Abby meets up with a local Conspiracy podcaster Walter (David Cronenberg) who believes that a local rich family were behind this and other disappearances. The supposed conspiracy also involves animal trainers. You will begin to question conflicting narratives as this tale unfolds. Some great scenes. we first encounter Cronenberg as he rises from a river pond beneath Niagara Falls, he's also a sort of mudlark diver. Directed/Co-Written by Albert Shin. On Netflix. 7/10.