The Vanished

You will wonder what level of hell you've wandered into when you first start watching this. The acting is dire. The editing is terrible. There are so many utterly baffling decisions made that you will find it very hard to sympathise with anyone at all. But, hang on...the last 10 minutes suddenly makes it all (almost) worth it, and with the benefit of hindsight you'll find yourself going...ohhhh...NOW I see... 6 stars because it's actually not awful and the ending is actually quite surprising and a little heartbreaking.

I'm always a little wary of other people's reviews, as many of our younger generation prefers constant action, entertainment and stimulation. So if that's what you're looking for, then this isn't the film for you. Although there are many "jump scare" sequences, the film moves along at an occasionally slow-to-moderate speed, and yet it's entirely gripping.

Anne Heche does a fabulous job, and her performance as the overwrought mother looking for her lost child was entirely convincing. One of my favorite elements was the fact that the film keeps you guessing until the end, and suspecting everyone in its path as the abductor. And by the way, for anyone who claims to have "predicted" the ending after only 10 minutes into the film, they're full of sh$t. This movie was well-written and formulated to keep you guessing. Overall, it was an impressive feat for Peter Facinelli.

I found this movie very interesting. I liked all the twists and turns, and the ending is very surprising and satiating. Sure there are several misdirects that other reviews site as plot holes. But if you think about it later each subplot has a thread tying it back to the main story of the missing daughter.

It was not too bad and certainly held my attention as it tries to solve a missing daughter story. I was hoping it might be like Taken but it's mostly a psychological drama similar to Prisoners but not nearly as good. But still it was tense suspenseful watch with twists and turns. But the unreliable narrator storytelling has been done before but still never gets old.

This movie turned out to be fairly decent. Some of the acting wasn't the greatest, but I did enjoy the film. I've got to admit I didn't expect the twist in the end. Worth a watch.