Director: Brad Anderson
Starring: Sam Worthington, Lily Rabe
Running Time: 100 minutes
Synopsis: Bickering married couple Ray and Joanne (Sam Worthington and Lily Rabe) and their young daughter Peri are on a long drive home after Thanksgiving at her parents. They stop at a gas station, where Peri has an accident and hurts her arm. At a nearby hospital Peri is treated by Dr. Berthram (Stephen Tobolowsky) and sent for a scan, separating Ray from his wife and daughter. When he wakes up in the waiting room, his family is missing.
What Works Well: This efficient something-is-wrong-here thriller effectively juggles conspiracy vibes with a psychological unraveling. Director Brad Anderson keeps both explanations on the table by simultaneously dropping hints about Ray's decaying mental state and the hospital's shady practices. The mounting tension is augmented by a troubled backstory that allows Sam Worthington to leverage complexity in the midst of turmoil.
What Does Not Work As Well: The wife-mysteriously-vanishes genre has been well-covered, and here the traditional thriller elements yield to gun wielding and physical altercations that are misplaced within the hospital milieu, and much less interesting than the psychological edginess.
Key Quote:
Dr. Berthram: So, what's the story, young lady?
Peri Monroe: I fell.
Dr. Berthram: Yeah. Sooner or later everybody does. Right dad?
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