I love a good crime thriller but I did not expect the rollercoasters this movie would take me on.

The Vanished follows a couple and their 10-year-old daughter who are going to a campsite in their RV for a few nights during Thanksgiving. When they arrive however we meet a few different characters who pose as distractions for the couple until they realise that their daughter is missing.

This is when those characters that we met in the first part of the movie become prime suspects, who could’ve taken this child? What was their motive behind taking her? And will we ever find her?

This movie kept you on the edge of your seat the whole time as slowly more and more things were revealed about the couple and about the other characters that we see at this campsite.

What I really appreciated with this movie was how everything happened at this campsite. We never ventured further out than the closed area and so everything felt quite claustrophobic, but at the same time having the campsite right next to a large lake there were so many opportunities for this girl to disappear. It really kept you engaged and wondering what actually happened.

The only part that fell short for me was the inclusion of a character near the start of the movie. Of course this character added dramatic tension to the first scenes but, I felt in some ways, with where the movie went this particular plot point could have been left out. It was an interesting story arc but definitely one that did not pay off in the way that I hoped.

This movie delves into relationships, adultery, child exploitation, and the fear of not being able to trust anyone around you while also trusting them to help you with the loss of your child. It’s incredibly deep and disturbing and the twists and turns along the way not only keep you guessing everything that you’re seeing but also makes you wonder how it will end.

I cannot recommend this movie enough. I do not want to give too much of it away because watching it blind really does make a difference to how much you enjoy it. I do wonder if on a second viewing you would be able to catch all the things you miss the first time around, but then I would happily watch this movie again anyway.

Are you planning on watching The Vanished?

Until next time.

Published by shonaharding

Media graduate with a passion for reviewing film and TV. View all posts by shonaharding