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The Vanishing is a film which takes an age to get going, but when it does, it’s worth sticking with.
The premise simply states “Three lighthouse keepers on the remote Flannan Isles find a hidden trunk of gold, leading to their mysterious disappearance”, those three being James Ducat (Gerard Butler – Den Of Thieves), Thomas Marshall (Peter Mullan – Ozark) and Donald McArthur (Connor Swindells).
If you haven’t seen the trailer, it’s difficult to describe without giving spoilers, but it’s safe to say that an altercation happens, which leads to the discovery of the gold, and then two of the fishermen who have a vested interested in said gold – Locke (Søren Malling, Borgen, 1864) and Boor (Ólafur Darri Ólafsson – Trapped, The Widow) – come looking for it, and it becomes a fight for survival.
Once deeds are done… who’s best at keeping secrets?
All of the actors in this piece pull their weight, although it could’ve cut down the opening scenes considerably, and with some other snips, brought this down to around 90 minutes.
NOTE: This review is for the film only. Also, in some territories, this film is known as Keepers.
The Vanishing is out now on Blu-ray, Amazon Video and DVD.
Detailed specs:
Cert: 
Running time: 107 minutes
Release date: May 6th 2019
Studio: Lionsgate Home Entertainment
Format: 2.39:1
Rating: 6/10
Director: Kristoffer Nyholm
Producers: Gerard Butler, Andy Evans, Maurice Fadida, Sean Marley, Ade Shannon, Alan Siegel
Screenplay: Joe Bone, Celyn Jones
Music: Benjamin Wallfisch
Cast:
James Ducat: Gerard Butler
Thomas Marshall: Peter Mullan
Donald McArthur: Connor Swindells
Locke: Søren Malling
Boor: Ólafur Darri Ólafsson
Kenny: Gary Lewis
Duncan: Ken Drury
Galley Hand: Roderick Gilkison
Mary: Emma King
Fisherman: John Taylor
Reviewer of movies, videogames and music since 1994. Aortic valve operation survivor from the same year. Running DVDfever.co.uk since 2000. Nobel Peace Prize winner 2021.