The Vanishing (2018 film)

Last updated
The Vanishing
The Vanishing 2019 poster.jpg
Theatrical release poster
Directed byKristoffer Nyholm
Written by
  • Celyn Jones
  • Joe Bone
Produced by
Starring
CinematographyJørgen Johansson
Edited byMorten Højbjerg
Music by Benjamin Wallfisch
Production
companies
Distributed by Lionsgate
Release dates
  • 11 October 2018 (2018-10-11)(Sitges Film Festival)
  • March 2019 (2019-03)(United Kingdom)
Running time
107 minutes
CountryUnited Kingdom
LanguageEnglish
Budget$5 million [1]
Box office$1.2 million [2]

The Vanishing, previously titled Keepers, is a 2018 British psychological thriller film directed by Kristoffer Nyholm and written by Celyn Jones and Joe Bone. Based on the 1900 disappearance of the Flannan Isles Lighthouse crew, it stars Gerard Butler, Peter Mullan, and Connor Swindells as three lighthouse keepers whose shift takes a dark turn. [3] [4]

Contents

The Vanishing premiered at the Sitges Film Festival in October 2018, which was followed by a United Kingdom release in March 2019. [5]

Plot

Three men begin their six-week shift tending to the remote Flannan Isles Lighthouse. Donald, the youngest, is inexperienced and learning the trade of the lighthouse keeper from James and Thomas. James has a family waiting for him on the mainland, Thomas is still mourning the loss of his wife and children.

After a storm, the men discover a boat, a body and a wooden chest washed ashore. Donald descends the cliffs to check on the man, who appears lifeless. As they haul the chest, the man awakens and attacks Donald. Donald smashes the man's head with a rock in self-defence.

Thomas is against opening the chest, but does so alone and keeps the findings to himself. Eventually the other two give in to their curiosity and discover several gold bars inside. Urging caution and secrecy, Thomas proposes they dispose of the body, sneak the gold back to the mainland, and lie low for a year before splitting their shares.

Another boat arrives with strangers Locke and Boor, crewmates of the deceased. They interrogate Thomas who claims the body and cargo have been reported and taken away, as per protocol. The visitors leave but attempt to contact the lighthouse by radio. Thomas and James are unable to respond due to their malfunctioning radio, revealing their lie. The strangers return, circling the island until nightfall. In a violent struggle James manages to strangle Boor and Donald kills Locke, using the woolding. Sensing another intruder outside, the keepers chase him through the darkness and James slashes him with a hook. He is horrified to discover he has killed a young boy, reminding him of his son.

After dumping the bodies into the sea, the three men endure their remaining time on the island despite mounting distrust and tension. James in particular becomes unhinged, secluding himself in the tiny chapel nearby. Donald grows uneasy and insists that he and Thomas leave with the gold. James suddenly reappears, apologising for his behaviour. Once Donald and Thomas let their guards down, James locks Thomas in the pantry and strangles Donald. Thomas breaks free and subdues James.

Finally ready to depart the island, Thomas and James board the dead visitors' boat with the gold. After throwing Donald's body overboard, James admits that he cannot bear to live with his guilt and lowers himself into the water to end his life. He calls for Thomas to help with this last act and Thomas complies by holding James' head under water before sailing on alone.

Cast

Production

On 31 October 2016 it was announced that a psychological thriller Keepers was in development, which Kristoffer Nyholm would make his directing debut from a script by Celyn Jones and Joe Bone. [6] Kodiak Pictures would fully finance the film along with Cross Creek Pictures, which would be produced by Andy Evans, Ade Shannon, and Sean Marley for Mad as Birds along with Gerard Butler and Alan Siegel for G-BASE, Maurice Fadida for Kodiak Pictures, and Brian Oliver for Cross Creek. [6] Butler, Peter Mullan and Connor Swindells would star as James, Thomas, and Donald, respectively, in the film inspired by a true unresolved 1900 mystery at the Flannan Isles Lighthouse. [6] [7]

Principal photography on the film began in mid-April 2017 in Galloway, Scotland. [8] Locations included the Mull of Galloway, Port Logan harbour, Killantringan Lighthouse near Portpatrick and Corsewall Lighthouse near Stranraer. [9]

Reception

On review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 85% based on 39 reviews, with an average rating of 6.4/10. The website's critics consensus reads: "Suspenseful atmosphere, an evocative setting, and a strong cast keep audiences invested throughout The Vanishing's patient approach to unraveling its mystery." [10] On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 64 out of 100, based on 10 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews". [11]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Argyll</span> Historic county in Scotland

Argyll, sometimes called Argyllshire, is a historic county and registration county of western Scotland.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">South Rona</span> Island in the Inner Hebrides, Scotland

Rona, sometimes called South Rona to distinguish it from North Rona, is an inhabited island in the Inner Hebrides. It lies between the Sound of Raasay and the Inner Sound just north of the neighbouring island of Raasay and east of the Trotternish peninsula of Skye. It has a total area of 930 hectares (3.6 sq mi) and a population of 3.

The Flannan Isles or the Seven Hunters are a small island group in the Outer Hebrides of Scotland, approximately 32 kilometres west of the Isle of Lewis. They may take their name from Saint Flannan, the 7th century Irish preacher and abbot.

Horror of Fang Rock is the first serial of the 15th season of the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, which was first broadcast in four weekly parts on BBC1 from 3 to 24 September 1977.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Smalls Lighthouse</span> Lighthouse off Pembrokeshire, Wales

Smalls Lighthouse is a lighthouse that stands on the largest of a group of wave-washed basalt and dolerite rocks known as The Smalls approximately 20 miles (32 km) west of Marloes Peninsula in Pembrokeshire, Wales, and 8 miles (13 km) west of Grassholm. It was erected in 1861 by engineer James Douglass to replace a previous lighthouse which had been erected in 1776 on the same rock. It is the most remote lighthouse operated by Trinity House.

<i>Half Light</i> (film) 2006 film by Craig Rosenberg

Half Light is a 2006 romantic thriller film written and directed by Craig Rosenberg. It stars Demi Moore as a successful novelist who moves to a small Scottish village to move on with her life after the death of her son. Hans Matheson, James Cosmo, Henry Ian Cusick, Kate Isitt, and Therese Bradley appear in supporting roles.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lighthouse keeper</span> Profession in the shipping industry

A lighthouse keeper or lightkeeper is a person responsible for tending and caring for a lighthouse, particularly the light and lens in the days when oil lamps and clockwork mechanisms were used. Lighthouse keepers were sometimes referred to as "wickies" because of their job trimming the wicks.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gary Lewis (actor)</span> Scottish actor

Gary Stevenson, better known as Gary Lewis, is a Scottish actor. He has had roles in films such as Billy Elliot, Joyeux Noël, Gangs of New York and Eragon as well as major roles in the television docudrama Supervolcano and the Starz series Outlander.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Port Logan</span> Human settlement in Scotland

Port Logan, formerly Port Nessock, is a small village in the parish of Kirkmaiden in the Rhins of Galloway in Wigtownshire. The Gaelic name is Port Neasaig.

"Flannan Isle" is an English language poem by Wilfrid Wilson Gibson, first published in 1912. It refers to a mysterious incident that occurred on the Flannan Isles in 1900, when three lighthouse-keepers disappeared without explanation.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gerard Butler filmography</span>

Scottish actor Gerard Butler has been in numerous films and television series since his on-screen debut in 1997's Mrs. Brown. After taking minor roles in releases such as the James Bond film Tomorrow Never Dies (1997) and the horror film Tale of the Mummy (1998), he took the lead in 2000, portraying Dracula in Dracula 2000. Butler co-starred in the films Reign of Fire (2002), alongside Christian Bale, and Lara Croft: Tomb Raider – The Cradle of Life (2003), with Angelina Jolie, before playing André Marek in the adaptation of Michael Crichton's science fiction adventure Timeline (2003). Then he was cast as Erik, The Phantom in Joel Schumacher's 2004 film adaptation of the musical The Phantom of the Opera alongside Emmy Rossum, and Butterfly on a Wheel with Pierce Brosnan and Maria Bello. Although these films were important breaks, it was only in 2007 that Butler gained worldwide recognition for his portrayal of King Leonidas in Zack Snyder's 2007 fantasy war film 300. It earned him an MTV Movie Award for Best Fight and an Empire Award for Best Actor nomination. That same year, Butler starred in the romantic drama film P.S. I Love You with Hilary Swank. After appearing in the 2008 films Nim's Island with Jodie Foster and RocknRolla with Idris Elba, Butler took the lead in several 2009 films including the romantic comedy The Ugly Truth with Katherine Heigl and the thriller Law Abiding Citizen with Jamie Foxx.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Flannan Isles Lighthouse</span> Lighthouse off the northwest coast of Scotland

Flannan Isles Lighthouse is a lighthouse near the highest point on Eilean Mòr, one of the Flannan Isles in the Outer Hebrides off the west coast of Scotland. It is best known for the mysterious disappearance of its keepers in 1900.

<i>Insidious: The Last Key</i> 2018 film by Adam Robitel

Insidious: The Last Key is a 2018 American supernatural horror film directed by Adam Robitel and written by Leigh Whannell. It is produced by Jason Blum, Oren Peli, and James Wan. It is the fourth installment in the Insidious franchise, and the second in the chronology of the story running through the series. Starring Lin Shaye, Angus Sampson, Whannell, Spencer Locke, Caitlin Gerard, and Bruce Davison, the film follows parapsychologist Elise Rainier as she investigates a haunting in her childhood home.

<i>Gunpowder</i> (TV series) British historical drama miniseries

Gunpowder is a British historical drama television miniseries produced by Kudos and Kit Harington's Thriker Films for BBC One. The three-part drama series premiered on BBC One in the United Kingdom on 21 October 2017 and on HBO in the United States on 18 December 2017.

<i>The Lighthouse</i> (2019 film) 2019 psychological horror-comedy film by Robert Eggers

The Lighthouse is a 2019 film directed and produced by Robert Eggers, from a screenplay he wrote with his brother Max Eggers. It stars Willem Dafoe and Robert Pattinson as nineteenth-century lighthouse keepers in turmoil after being marooned at a remote New England outpost by a wild storm. The film has defied categorization in media, and interpretations of it range among horror film, psychological thriller, or character study, among others.

<i>Locke & Key</i> (TV series) 2020 American supernatural horror drama television series

Locke & Key is an American fantasy horror drama television series developed by Carlton Cuse, Meredith Averill, and Aron Eli Coleite, based on the comic book series of the same name by Joe Hill and Gabriel Rodríguez. It premiered on Netflix on February 7, 2020. The series stars Darby Stanchfield, Connor Jessup, Emilia Jones, Jackson Robert Scott, Laysla De Oliveira, Petrice Jones, and Griffin Gluck.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Connor Swindells</span> English actor

Connor Ryan Swindells is an English actor and model. He gained prominence through his role as Adam Groff in the Netflix comedy-drama Sex Education (2019–2023). He has since starred in the BBC One war drama SAS: Rogue Heroes (2022–present). His films include The Vanishing (2018), Emma (2020), Barbarians (2021), and Barbie (2023).

Maurice Fadida is an American film producer known for executive producing films such as The Trial of the Chicago 7, John Henry, and Bloodshot, and for founding Kodiak Pictures.

References

  1. ↑ "'The Vanishing': Gerard Butler's return to the big screen is a long way from Sparta". The National . 14 February 2019. Retrieved December 11, 2022.
  2. ↑ "The Vanishing (2018)". Box Office Mojo . Amazon.com . Retrieved December 11, 2022.
  3. ↑ "Il mistero del faro delle Isole Flannan - Eilan More". Bottega Mistero (in Italian). 2015-03-20. Retrieved 2019-07-01.
  4. ↑ McCloskey, Keith (2014). The Lighthouse: The Mystery of the Eilean Mor Lighthouse Keepers. The History Press. ISBN   978-0750953658.
  5. ↑ "Gerard Butler's lighthouse mystery movie hits the big screen". BBC. 29 March 2019. Retrieved 30 March 2019.
  6. 1 2 3 Tartaglione, Nancy (31 October 2016). "Gerard Butler, Peter Mullan, Joe Alwyn Playing For 'Keepers' – AFM". Deadline. Retrieved 31 October 2016.
  7. ↑ Dennis Harvey, Film Review: ‘The Vanishing’, Variety.
  8. ↑ "Filming starts for Eilean Mor lighthouse movie". www.arbroathherald.co.uk. 18 April 2017. Archived from the original on 22 May 2017. Retrieved 20 April 2017.
  9. ↑ "Gerard Butler's lighthouse mystery movie hits the big screen". www.bbc.co.uk/news. 29 March 2019. Retrieved 29 March 2019.
  10. ↑ "The Vanishing (2018)". Rotten Tomatoes . Fandango . Retrieved October 10, 2021.
  11. ↑ "The Vanishing Reviews". Metacritic . Retrieved May 13, 2020.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.