Film & Food @ 29 November 2021 : The Vanished (2020)
Also known as Hour of Lead, which I can’t fully decide on whether this is a better title - despite the wordplay. Directed and written by Peter Facinelli, who can only really be recognised in his role as the vampire Dr Carlisle Cullen in the Twilight Saga.
It tells the story of a couple who are on holiday in their RV at a lake, with their daughter and pug. However, things quickly escalate to chaos when (as gathered by the title) the daughter goes missing almost immediately upon arriving.
There are a lot of red herrings throughout the film, and I am going to avoid spoiling the ending because although it was a bit of a slog to get through, I did really enjoy the twist. I have read that it was quite predictable, which I can agree with, but there were enough fake-outs to convince me otherwise throughout my watch.
Although the acting and pacing were less than desirable, the film itself was shot very nicely. And following the twist, a few of the moments throughout the film actually do pay off, which is a nice payoff after I nearly turned it off a few times. I did watch the film in two halves, however, that was due to me getting home late and attempting to keep a healthy sleep schedule.
I’ve recently been on a psychological thriller type film binge, so I think I may have exhausted my patience with some of the more common tropes / more chaotic unhinged moments of acting. Although, after looking the film up on Reddit to see what others thought of it, I think it was universally agreed to have bad acting but a decent premise.
I don’t think I’d watch this film again, but I would perhaps recommend it to a friend so that they could share the experience that I did.
Due to this being quite a late-night watch, I paired my viewing experience with a few things to graze on rather than a full meal. I had some raspberries and blueberries, cherry peppers with goat's cheese, and of course the staple of every snack in my arsenal - hummus and chips.
I’ve been trying to eat healthier recently so this was nice, I didn’t feel too full or guilty while mindlessly picking at my treats.
My favourite things are food and films, so expect more of this content from me in the future!
Thank you for reading.