Review: The Vanishing
Inspired by the true life story of three lighthouse keepers who vanished without a trace in 1900, The Vanishing is a well-calibrated psychological thriller that makes superb use of its isolated setting and trio of leading men.
Set in 1938 on a remote island off the coast of Scotland, the film revolves around three men as they begin their six-week shift looking after the Flannan Isles Lighthouse. Thomas (Peter Mullan) is the eldest of the three, widowed and still bearing the grief at having lost his wife and two young children. The burly James (Gerard Butler) has a family waiting for him back in the mainland, whilst Donald (Connor Swindells), the youngest and most inexperienced, has come to learn the ins and outs of the trade.
Their time on the island is meant to be routine and without incident, but there are already signs from the start that there are dangers, both internal and external, that are about to surface. For one, there's no radio signal. For another, there are the inherent perils of tending to the lighthouse, such as carefully handling the mercury used to oil the machinery. "Many a keeper's lost their mind to quicksilver," James warns the young apprentice. The first night brings about a violent storm, which results in the bodies of dead seagulls littering the island. Even more unsettling, they discover an unconscious man and a locked chest in a deep crevasse. When Donald is lowered down to check on the man, the man regains consciousness, attacks Donald, nearly drowning him in the process, but ends up being killed by Donald in self-defence.
From thereon, the film becomes an exercise in ever-increasing tension and suspense. The men discover that the locked chest contains gold bars, no doubt the target of the dead man's crewmates, Locke (Søren Malling) and Boor (Ólafur Darri Ólafsson), who show up on the island. Director Kristoffer Nyholm, who has directed several episodes of the Danish television series, The Killing, stages the encounter between the men with skill and precision, drawing maximum dread from the menacing calmness with which Locke questions the cool and collected Thomas, Donald's barely contained nervousness, James' coiled demeanour, and the threatening physicality of Boor as he slowly positions himself so that the central trio are trapped between him and Locke. When the violence erupts, which it inevitably does, it's brutal and disorienting and, unsurprisingly, leaves Thomas, James and Donald physically and emotionally damaged.
Cinematographer Jørgen Johansson's beautiful widescreen compositions enhance the ways in which the men are eroded by isolation, doubt, greed, suspicion, and guilt. All the actors deliver vivid performances, but perhaps Butler will make the most impression for those who are only familiar with him as the meaty hero of many a mediocre action film.
The Vanishing
Directed by: Kristoffer Nyholm
Written by: Joe Bone, Celyn Jones
Starring: Gerard Butler, Peter Mullan, Connor Swindells, Søren Malling, Ólafur Darri Ólafsson
