TORONTO – Renato De Maria’s latest film, “Vanished into the Night”, has reached #1 on Netflix in 48 countries since July 15th, and #2 in the US and UK. As a loose remake of an Argentine/Spanish film titled “7th Floor”, it’s mostly unoriginal borrowing directly from foreign source material, and utilizing classic thriller tropes. It isn’t however, without considerable merit.
De Maria does with this film what Kelly Johnson once famously decreed for aeronautical design, known famously as the acronym K.I.S.S – or “Keep it simple, stupid”. Johnson’s thinking was that an aircraft should be easily repairable for the average mechanic using minimal tools, minimizing the pilot’s potential obstacles. And De Maria certainly un-complicates things. Like a musician’s acoustic cover, he strips the plot down to its core note – a father rescuing his children. On paper, a tired pitch. But in the hands of De Maria and Riccardo Scamarcio, it’s a subtle contemplation of the more complex, and unfortunately, common issues of parental alienation, spousal manipulation and broken trust. Given the film’s meteoric rise on Netflix mere days into its release, one can safely assume that these themes have struck a chord.
As the film opens, former husband and wife sling charges at each other through their legal teams. The characters’ motivations are established: Elena (Annabelle Wallis) is a mother of two and an American woman who would rather divorce her husband than live another day in Italy. Her husband Pietro (Riccardo Scamarcio), a seemingly good man with a large gambling debt, is trying to put the past behind him. And as if divorce settlements aren’t terrifying enough, their children are kidnapped and held for ransom. Everything that follows is for the most part, a by-the-numbers suspense plot, though delivered with sleek camera work, beautiful Italian backdrops and yet another grounded and captivating performance by Scamarcio – who by all accounts should be a bigger international star than he is. He’s an actor whose face wears the toil and charm of a southern Italian man, never making clear what his intentions are or what side of the fence he stands – be it a ruthless criminal or dignified hero. With his talent, looks and resume, Hollywood hasn’t cast him nearly enough.
The critics’ reviews are mixed for Vanished, and if you’re the type who doesn’t chance a film without across-the-board approval, you might miss out on some classic Hollywood style cinema – with more than a dollop of Italian flavouring. De Maria’s Netflix hit at times [effectively] uses Hitchcock’s suspense techniques, although this comparison might mislead viewers into expecting a masterpiece – of which “Vanished into the Night” is not. What it is however, is a good old fashioned type of movie, constructed to give audiences exactly what they came to expect from a classic thriller: a blonde femme fatale, suspense & tension, and a good plot twist. “Vanished into the Night” under-promises and over-delivers, and does it by keeping it simple.
Massimo Volpe is a filmmaker and freelance writer from Toronto: he writes reviews of Italian films/content on Netflix
