Review of Vanishing on 7th Street (2010) by Jim R — 06 Apr 2011

Vanishing On 7th Street is the newest film from acclaimed-director, Brad Anderson (Transsiberian, The Machinist). Anderson's movies tend to be austere, vaguely distant, moody and dark ... and this one is no exception.

The when is never specified (and it actually isn't important other than to know it is a future date) but the where is an already decaying/suffering/dying Detroit -- a metropolis that was once a thriving urban center.

The city experiences a mysterious-and-unexplained city-wide blackout during which ANOTHER freak incident occurs -- almost ALL of the populatoin disappears in-the-blink-of-an-eye leaving shoes and piles of clothing in their wake.

Left behind (pun ... I know that AND there is a joke in the movie at the expense of this very book) are a group of very disjointed individuals played by Hayden Christensen (The Phantom Menace, Shattered Glass), Thandie Newton (Crash, Beloved) and John Leguizamo (Moulin Rouge!, Ice Age).

The three -- along with a young boy -- have to work together to stay alive because the "dark" isn't just dark. When the sun sets, shadows move and lunge and grasp for nearby souls (sort of like the demonic souls in the film, Ghost).

Carrying batteries and glowsicks, the four have to figure out what is going on around them all while staying alive! As the film progresses, they each become more and more desperate. As they each cling to hope, night isn't the only thing that descends around them.

The film is thick with Biblical references and at one time we even have a make-shift Adam & Eve. I am sure each individual will get something else out of this film; but there is no denying the religious undertone.

Even with those not-so-secretive messages, Vanishing's chief problem is that most of it is surface level and it lacks depth. That's a shame -- as it had some promise.