Director: Renato De Maria
Writers: Patxi Amezcua, Alejo Flah, Luca Infascelli
Stars: Annabelle Wallis, Riccardo Scamarcio, Massimiiano Gallo
Synopsis: A father, immersed in a difficult divorce process, embarks on a dangerous mission when his children disappear from their isolated country house.
Vanished Into the Night is the equivalent of a bad Lifetime movie with better packaging. The film is visually stunning, set in Italian villas, villages, and seaside towns. The actors are strikingly handsome and beautiful, and it’s easy to get lost in the eyes of each lead. However, the plot is paper-thin, and the script is as shallow as the Trevi Fountain.
Too bad no one made a wish to make a more competent film experience.
There is no depth to the story or themes, zero subtext, and the film needs a second act. Netflix’s Vanished Into the Night is the cinematic streaming equivalent of a storyboard put to digital cinema. I cannot believe anyone would recommend it, and if they did, they should never review the medium again. They are not just wasting your time but stealing it, not to mention your sanity.
The Italian Netflix thriller has some decent stars for such a poorly executed endeavor, and you have to feel bad for them landing in this lazy, contrived film. John Wick: Chapter 2’s Riccardo Scamarcio and Malignant’s Annabelle Wallis star in the Renato De Maria (Robbing Mussolini) film. Working from a script written by Francesca Marciano and Luca Infascelli with a thin plot, it’s hard to believe anyone would want their name attached to it.
Wallis plays Elena, an American psychotherapist who left her practice to help her husband Pietro (Scamarcio) follow his dream of opening a bed and breakfast in a sunny seaside town in Italy. However, the home they invested in, mainly with Elena’s investment, is a money pit.
To make matters worse, Pietro has accumulated over 250,000 euros in gambling debts.
Elena is not perfect either; as Pietro’s lawyer brings up, she was addicted to opioids for years, making Pietro the primary caretaker of their children. Yes, it’s sufficient to say this marriage seems beyond recovery.
However, after a tense divorce mediation, Pietro has custody of the kids for the week while Elena returns to the States. His son, Giovanni, wakes up with bad dreams and mistakes the shadows of tree branches for monsters. Pietro soothes him back to sleep, where his adolescent daughter Bianca rests.
He closes the door, sips his drink, and watches a football game, only to discover that his children are missing from their room hours later. When Elena returns, she blames Pietro, and they receive a call from the kidnappers demanding 150,000 euros for their children’s safe return. This means he must consort with an old friend, Nicola (Massimiliano Gallo), in his shady dealings to find the means to get them back.
De Maria wants the audience to feel tension and suspense because of how far these characters, in particular Pietro, will go to ensure their children will come back safely and unharmed. The problem is that there is little suspense derived because it’s rather obvious who the villain is from the beginning and that he is the only one with true motivation.
The handful of red herrings, like the shady childhood friends and mobsters looking for their money, are nothing but fodder. The character decisions need to be more explicit, such as not calling the police for hours when your children go missing from home. Not to mention this lack of clarity persists when another character asks why this wasn’t done, and their response is, ‘You told me to stay and not do anything.’
Then, there is the issue of the second act—there is none. There is one compilation, and as soon as you become aware of it, you know who the real villain is. Pietro experiences no tension, plot complications, conflict development, or turning point. Frankly, it’s an extended version of the first-act setup that doesn’t work and gives away the plot immediately because it is so painfully transparent.
When the movie reaches the big reveal in Vanished into the Night, the resolution is so matter-of-fact and clean that it insults the audience. The twist here is disappointingly conventional and expected, lacking the unsettling and bizarre nature the genre thrives on and fans crave. Regrettably, the story lacks the visceral impact and tense elements needed to create a truly memorable and gripping audience experience.
