The Vanished (2020 film)

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The Vanished
The Vanished (2020 film).jpg
Film poster
Directed by Peter Facinelli
Written byPeter Facinelli
Produced by
  • Andrew Mann
  • Sasha Yelaun
  • Jeff Elliott
  • Brandon Menchen
Starring
CinematographyCory Geryak
Edited byVaughn Bien III
Music bySacha Chaban
Production
companies
Distributed by Saban Films
Release date
  • August 21, 2020 (2020-08-21)
Running time
115 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish

The Vanished (formerly titled Hour of Lead) [1] is a 2020 American psychological thriller film written and directed by Peter Facinelli. The film stars Thomas Jane, Anne Heche, Jason Patric and Facinelli and follows a couple who sets out to find their daughter who disappeared during their camping trip. [2]

Contents

Plot

Paul and Wendy Michaelson take their RV to a remote lakeside campsite with their daughter Taylor and pug Lucky. Paul meets Miranda, an attractive woman in the neighboring campsite, while Wendy is getting supplies. However, when Wendy returns, they discover Taylor has disappeared.

They contact the manager Tom but have no luck. Sheriff Baker and Deputy Rakes organize a search party but tell Paul and Wendy to stay put. After 24 hours, Paul and Wendy file a missing persons report and also learn there is an escaped convict in the area but that he is unlikely to be the suspect. Paul and Wendy decide to conduct their own search and eventually find a man sleeping at a campfire with a gun beside him. Assuming he is the escapee, Wendy grabs his gun. The sleeper awakens and grabs at the gun, only to be shot. The next day, the sheriff tells them the convict was caught on a bus leaving town, and a camper was found shot to death. Paul and Wendy realize Wendy shot an innocent man.

As local authorities are getting more involved, Paul and Wendy grow more suspicious of Miranda and her husband Eric. While the latter are gone Paul and Wendy search their RV but fail to see a strand of beads belonging to their daughter Taylor. That night, Paul observes Miranda making love. The next day the two couples go out on the lake together to continue the search. After six hours on the lake, they spot a plastic bag floating on the water, but it holds no clues. Paul and Wendy accuse Eric and Miranda of taking their daughter because they have been unsuccessful in trying to have a baby. Wendy pulls out a gun, and a fight ensues in which Miranda is shot and Eric is stabbed. Paul and Wendy return to shore, shaken, and argue. When Baker finds Eric's body, he searches Eric and Miranda's RV and finds the beads, which Wendy confirms is her daughter's. Baker is informed later that strands of hair were in Eric's hand.

Later, Wendy suspects Tom might be responsible, so she searches his place, uncovering a hidden passageway leading to a toilet and a closet shelf with a stash of child pornography videos. She is knocked out and bound. After Tom diverts Paul from looking for her, he tries to hold Wendy down, but she finds a hammer on the floor and kills Tom. Baker suspects Tom was part of a child pornography network, and with the case seemingly solved, Paul convinces Wendy to throw away Taylor's stuff to bring closure. The items are later recovered by Tom's groundskeeper Justin, who has been having his own issues. He urgently tries to call police but cannot get through.

Baker eventually receives a Dear John letter from his wife but then notices something strange about a photo of the Michaelsons—they are posed in front of the World Trade Center before the September 11 attacks and Wendy is pregnant in the picture, implying that Taylor would have been much older than 10 years old. After contacting another police network, he learns from Paul's brother that their daughter had died six years before and the Michaelsons have actually been living out a fantasy in which they think their daughter is still alive because they have been unable to successfully go through the stages of grief. Rakes confirms the DNA from the hair in Eric's hand belonged to Paul.

Flashbacks show the couple murdering Eric and Miranda, Paul planting the beads in the RV and Justin discovering the blanket which has the daughter's real birth date printed on it. The police return to the campsite, but in Wendy and Paul's spot, they find another RV couple who momentarily lose their child and worry she was taken by the Michaelsons, but the child reappears. The Michaelsons have already left the campsite and are reliving their memories with Taylor who is playing on their RV's video screen.

Cast

Production

Early in development, Laurence Fishburne was being considered to star. [3] Filming occurred in February 2019. [4] The movie was filmed in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. [5] [6]

Release

The film was released in select theaters, VOD and digital platforms on August 21, 2020. [7] [8]

Reception

The film has a 21% rating based on 14 reviews on review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes. [9] Jeffrey M. Anderson of Common Sense Media awarded the film two stars out five. [10] Glenn Kenny of RogerEbert.com awarded the film three stars, writing:

[The] wrap up got me good, enough to make me admire Facinelli's ambition and handling of mechanics. The movie’s original title was “Hour of Lead,” a phrase from the Emily Dickinson poem that is laid out in white type before the opening credits. One can see why a film distributor or producer might not want that as a title. The movie is certainly not leaden; nor is it as generic as its current title might indicate. [1]

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References

  1. 1 2 Kenny, Glenn (21 August 2020). "The Vanished". RogerEbert.com . Retrieved 16 October 2020.
  2. ↑ Lowe, Justin (21 August 2020). "'The Vanished': Film Review". The Hollywood Reporter . Retrieved 16 October 2020.
  3. ↑ Miska, Brad (21 May 2018). "Laurence Fishburne and Thomas Jane Topline 'Hour of Lead' [Exclusive]". Bloody Disgusting . Retrieved 16 October 2020.
  4. ↑ Wiseman, Andreas (6 February 2019). "Anne Heche & Jason Patric Join Thomas Jane In Action-Thriller 'Hour Of Lead' — EFM". Deadline Hollywood . Retrieved 16 October 2020.
  5. ↑ Wojnar, Zak (25 August 2020). "Anne Heche & Thomas Jane Interview: The Vanished". Screen Rant . Retrieved 1 February 2021.
  6. ↑ Flanagan, Ben (25 January 2021). "'The Vanished', thriller trending on Netflix, shot in Alabama at the last minute". Al.com . Retrieved 1 February 2021.
  7. ↑ Bui, Hoai-Tran (24 July 2020). "'The Vanished' Trailer: Thomas Jane and Anne Heche Search for Their Missing Daughter". Slash Film . Retrieved 16 October 2020.
  8. ↑ Wojnar, Zak (13 August 2020). "Peter Facinelli Interview: The Vanished & Exclusive Clip". Screen Rant . Retrieved 16 October 2020.
  9. ↑ "The Vanished". Rotten Tomatoes . Fandango . Retrieved October 10, 2021.
  10. ↑ Anderson, Jeffrey M. (19 August 2020). "The Vanished". Common Sense Media . Retrieved 16 October 2020.
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