Vanished Into the Night Review: Why You Should Watch the Thriller With Riccardo Scamarcio
Stars: Annabelle Wallis, Riccardo Scamarcio, Massimiliano Gallo
Director: Renato De Maria
Where to Watch: Netflix
Filmyhype.com Ratings: 3/5 (three stars)
Riccardo Scamarcio is the protagonist of the new Netflix thriller Vanished Into the Night (original title Septimo). Set in Puglia, between the towns of Bari and Otranto, this crime drama is directed by Renato De Maria, produced by Picomedia, and tells a story of kidnappings, lies, illegal drug trafficking, and deceptions where nothing is as it seems. Alongside the actor from Puglia, who in this film speaks both in English and Italian, there is also the American actress Annabelle Wallis (Peaky Blinders, The Mummy, Annabelle) who gives the film an international touch but also Massimiliano Gallo (Imma Tatarani) and the very young Gaia Coletti and Lorenzo Ferrante. The story is that of a couple whose young children are kidnapped in circumstances that are nothing short of mysterious and this dramatic event will lead them to begin a desperate search to find them. But nothing is as it seems. The construction of a family unit depends on the bonds of the individual members, the people who belong to it, and what they feel for each other during the circumstances of life.
A mother, a father, and children, the individuality of each one marks the personal and private essence, but how much are we given to know about a person and how much can we get to know, especially when it comes to particular circumstances in which pain and the desire to prevail over the other take over? When watching Vanished Into the Night, the new film with Riccardo Scamarcio and Annabelle Wallis, directed by Renato De Maria, it is absolutely necessary to take these dynamics into account, beyond the ongoing thriller. Someone vanishes into thin air, leaving no explanation for what happened. Panic takes over and the world stops, it no longer turns for the protagonist of a story made of shadows, secrets, and references to something that the audience can grasp, without fully understanding the deep reasons. Vanished Into the Night talks first of all about its characters and what they feel, trying to capture their deep reasons and reactions to a moment that is difficult to define in rational and morally ordered terms. Yet it takes, even if in the wrong way, immediately showing some of its limits that remain on the screen from beginning to end.
Vanished Into the Night Review: The Story Plot
Vanished Into the Night takes us into the life of Pietro (Riccardo Scamarcio), Elena (Annabelle Wallis), and their two children. When we meet them, they are out at sea, near the sea that touches Puglia, with their boat on a trip, and all the most obvious elements of a story like this are manifested in the game of the children who hide from their parents. The gaze of the film, however, immediately presents a family situation far from the lightheartedness of the initial trip, showing us the two adults as they divide up custody of their children in front of a judge. In the static simplicity of a sequence like this, some specific accusations are launched, obvious negative descriptions that the audience at home must also deal with, aimed at showing the negative sides of these parents who are practically at war. How much truth is there in their accusations? What are the real reasons that led them to separate and choose to hire their own lawyer? What impact will a situation like this have on the film’s progress?
Amid the marital conflict, however, Vanished Into the Night also moves in the function of a further doubt about its protagonist, about this father who, at least from what we see, seems to have frequented some very bad company before taking care of his family. More question marks then. More shadows and smoke in the eyes of the spectators who could begin to form an idea about the situation, without obviously grasping all the most hidden reasons. Everything changes when one night while the children are sleeping at Pietro’s house, they inexplicably vanish into thin air. As panic takes over both parents, the classic ransom call arrives. The voice on the other end of the line is asking for a lot of money, and it is practically impossible to collect it in the required time frame. What will Pietro choose to do? Who has targeted his family? How far will a father go to save his children?
Vanished Into the Night Review and Analysis
Vanished Into the Night is unmistakably a dark film. It is dark in its writing, in its intentions, and above all in impressing on the small screen the characteristics of its main characters. Here the audience finds itself involved in a family and personal drama in which nothing is ever clear and distinct to the end. In the smoke of an experience made of masks, the same feature film builds its own game with Netflix subscribers, addressing them directly for some things, in a game in which one must be able to grasp the subtleties of the case and those fleeting details that can actually change the perceived banality in the immediate. Between predictability and unpredictability, a rather botched family case develops, casual in some of its things and rather simplistic in others. The kidnapping of the two children is the main pretext to get to know the male protagonist in-depth, highlighting some of his characteristics that, however, remain fundamentally tied to a narrative surface that is not fully involved in its presentation to the home audience.
It is not so much the protagonists that take hold, but some interesting developments in a thriller that would like to be layered, intricate, and full of suspense, without fully succeeding. If on the one hand, some things leave you speechless, referring to stories on the same wavelength, on the other hand, you find yourself having to deal with a rhythm that never really convinces, telling something that perhaps would have worked better with a much shorter and more calibrated duration. It is precisely the execution times, and some specific sequences in this sense, that undermine the transport of a work for images that should have been tighter in its presentation also technically and formally. The result is that you find yourself having to deal with a mystery that certainly takes on some of its unexpected twists and turns, clearly referring to some of the great masters in the history of cinema who have made it a poetics, a trademark, and a real profession (Alfred Hitchcock among all, openly cited), only to then dampen its potential with some avoidable lengthiness in their approach to the great, passionate and generalist public.
The interpretations of Riccardo Scamarcio and Annabelle Wallis also work quite well, considering that almost all the dramatic and human weight of the story is supported by the work of the former. In the other formal choices used to compose the film, however, we find some limits and superficiality that unfortunately undermine its very essence and suspense on the screen. Then there are the themes, even if only hinted at, that are part of a complex character construction. The infamous American opioid crisis is introduced, which is the phenomenon whereby, following a serious accident, the American hospital system gives patients powerful, addictive painkillers. Many celebrities have entered the tunnel of addiction in this way, such as the late Matthew Perry (after a skiing accident in 1997). The film does not come from an original idea: it is a remake of The Seventh Floor (Séptimo), a 2013 Argentine film directed by Patxi Amezcua and written by the director himself together with Alejo Flah.
The story is about a man, Sebastian (Ricardo Darín) who lives on the seventh floor of a building. One day, while he was taking the elevator, his children ran down the stairs of the building and vanished into thin air. Convinced that they have been kidnapped by someone lurking in the building, Sebastian begins a frantic search for his children. From the Argentine film, as is evident, only the inspiration for the general plot was taken, successfully adapted to the Apulian context, and above all focused on the delicate theme of the separation of a couple when children are involved. Among other issues, of course, the one that emerges is that of local crime linked to international crime thanks to the maritime route that allows illicit trafficking that is not always easy to trace. Finally, the Italian passion for football is not lacking: there is a match with Bari, the local team, which has an important position in the plot. Truly a perfect adaptation to the Italian context, seasoned with evocative wide-ranging shots and enchanting natural views.
Vanished Into the Night is a thriller that doesn’t start with a bang the entire initial part of the film could be a bit slow and unconvincing but, in reality, it is only preparatory for an ending that leaves you pleasantly surprised and, just as a good thriller requires, can give us a fair amount of twists and suspense. This new Italian title from Netflix, in fact, only gains traction from the middle of the film onwards despite telling a very simple story of the kidnapping of minors with the subsequent request for ransom – a plot that we have already seen many times on the big screen – it hides a much deeper depth and some not so obvious food for thought. Vanished Into the Night makes us reflect on the concept of parenthood, how sick motherhood can be, how difficult it is for a man to keep his own conflicts at bay to set a good example for his children, and how the truth is never really where it apparently seems to hide. Riccardo Scamarcio gives us a great performance in this film, playing a complex character, broken inside, whose credibility is constantly questioned by his wife, his friends, and consequently by himself.
A weak and strong character, contradictory and reasonable, who at the end of the story finds his compass and gives the audience a beautiful example of the search for one’s inner strength. Interesting, insightful, and pleasantly engaging, Vanished Into the Night is not an unforgettable thriller but it is a coherent film that knows how to entertain but also goes a little deeper, and for this reason, it is worth watching. Vanished Into the Night won’t change your life, but then again, not all movies are made for that. Sometimes all you need is a little entertainment, a well-written story, and a few twists. And this movie has all those elements.
Vanished Into the Night Review: The Last Words
Vanished Into the Night is a thriller that could have left much more, especially thanks to its structure and narrative construction. Starting from a family drama, the feature film directed by Renato De Maria tries to impress a particular human study on its protagonists that, unfortunately, always remains on the surface. There are doubts and also unexpected and interesting twists, but some slowness in terms of pace and choices in the writing of the ongoing action fails to convince and involve completely. A remake of a 2013 Argentine film, Vanished Into the Night has the merit of not imitating foreign films, perfectly adapting the characters and context to the splendid city of Bari where the story takes place. With many Apulian views that leave their mark and truly excellent photography.
