The Vanishing (movie review)

The Vanishing (thriller) (1988) (1 hr 47 mins)

This Franco-Dutch thriller directed by George Sluizer was based on a novel The Golden Egg by Tim Krabbe. Sluizer and Krabbe wrote the screenplay together and came up with an intriguing film.
 

A Dutch couple, Rex and Saskia, are driving on holiday in France. They stop at a service station and Saskia goes to buy a drink. She never returns.

In a series of flashbacks we get to know a middle-aged family man named Raymond and see his careful preparations to abduct a woman. His first few efforts are thwarted when the women become suspicious or their companion appears but gradually he develops what he hopes is the perfect plan. He will pose as an injured motorist and ask the woman to help put a heavy load in his car. Once she is in the car, he will drug her.

Three years after her disappearance, there is still no clue as to what happened to Saskia. Her boyfriend Rex is obsessed with the need to find out her fate. His new girlfriend helps him but is increasingly frustrated by his inability to let go. Five times in those past three years, Rex has received a postcard from the kidnapper suggesting a meeting at a cafe. Each time the kidnapper has failed to appear. But this time he contacts Rex and promises to appear. They meet and Raymond tells Rex that the only way he will ever find out what happened to Saskia is if he drinks a cup of coffee that Raymond has drugged.

Rex is so desperate to know the truth that he agrees. Big mistake! The film has a bleak ending but try not to let this put you off as the film is very impressive. It avoids the clichés of most thrillers of its kind and instead of plot twists relies on interesting, believable characters and an unusual structure. And you won’t forget the ending in a hurry.

The film was remade in the US in 1993 by the same director but the remake is generally regarded as inferior to the original, having a more conventional happy ending.

 Rating: 8/10