The Disappeared (2008) - 3.5/4

It is difficult to write about The Disappeared without revealing too much. It works hard at keeping a delicate ambiguity, particularly regarding whether protagonist Matthew is insane or whether he sees ghosts or whether there's some other conspiracy at work. It is a psychological mystery-thriller with supernatural overtones.

Matthew (Harry Treadaway) has just returned home from a psychiatric hospital. The relationship between he and his father (Greg Wise) is tense: he won't look his father in the face and his father tries his best to show concern without really feeling it. The reason is that Matthew's little brother disappeared from the playground while Matthew was supposed to be watching him and has never been found. Now Matthew is beginning to hallucinate that his brother is trying to tell him something. He's having dreams of being buried alive. His dad is convinced he's losing his mind again. And his best friend's little sister has now disappeared.

I can't claim The Disappeared makes a lot of sense, because in the final analysis it doesn't. It makes about as much sense as Mullholland Dr. or, to stay in-genre, Suspiria. A film of this sort doesn't have to make a lot of sense. It just has to be effective. And the hermetic arrangement of the film's plot is effective, sometimes creepy, sometimes chilling, and even moving. Some credit for this goes to Harry Treadaway for a subtle interpretation of a character that could have been very annoying in the wrong hands.

While The Disappeared has an awkward and slow beginning, those who stick with it will be rewarded. It is slow for a reason: it takes its time setting up the pieces in just the right spots and developing a disarming mood. What could have been a totally routine picture ends up containing a good many surprises, as well as, admittedly, a few predictable plot twists.

The Disappeared is a very difficult sort of film to make, a sort of film where it must be very tempting to cheat in order to manipulate the audience. Most films of this sort are trite failures. For every Don't Look Now there are dozens of forgotten imitators. The Disappeared is not a masterpiece like Don't Look Now, but it is a skillful and haunting picture that never insults the intelligence of its audience. First-time director Johnny Kevorkian should be proud.