Movie Review: The Vanished (2020)

Genre: Mystery Thriller  

Director: Peter Facinelli  
Starring: Thomas Jane, Anne Heche, Jason Patric  

Running Time: 115 minutes  

Synopsis: Married couple Paul and Wendy (Thomas Jane and Anne Heche) along with 10-year-old daughter Taylor arrive in their RV to an isolated lakeside camping site. As Paul gets to know their campsite neighbour Miranda (Aleksei Archer), Taylor disappears. Sheriff Baker (Jason Patric) arrives to investigate, and his men start a search of the surrounding woods. Paul and Wendy grow increasingly frantic when they learn an escaped convict is in the area. They also find Miranda and her husband Eric suspicious, while the camp ground manager and his assistant are plain creepy.

What Works Well: Writer and director Peter Facinelli creates a strong sense of place, the remote lakeside RV park (filmed in Tuscaloosa, Alabama) offering both beauty and mystery. The twisty plot leads Paul and Wendy on a wild ride, and they are soon much more than just concerned parents. Thomas Jane, Anne Heche, and Jason Patric provide sufficient quality in the lead roles to maintain interest.

What Does Not Work As Well: It takes a bewildering amount of police ineptitude to advance the plot. With a vulnerable child gone missing, Sheriff Baker and his officers do not properly search the premises (sordid secrets hide behind most doors), nor do they investigate the backgrounds of key characters, nor do they ever make meaningful progress on multiple related crime scenes (including two deaths and one missing person). Unsurprisingly, the compounding logic holes consume the predictable climax.

Key Quote:

Sheriff Baker, reassuring Paul and Wendy: I promise, I'll always be as transparent and as honest as I can be. You've got a partner here.

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