User Reviews

The Vanishing

It's nice to see Gerard Butler taking on a role that reminds us he can act and with a surprising amount of range. He has become Hollywood's go to man for B movie action over the last few years. However in 'The Vanishing' he gives the stand out performance. With strong support from Peter Mullan and Connor Swindells this film tells the story of three lighthouse keepers that vanished without trace off the coast of Scotland. Obviously only inspired by true events Director Kristoffer Nylholm's film is a tense slow burn thriller that relies on the three actors to drive the story through dialogue rather than action. As aforementioned it is Butler's performance that captivates the most as the three men discover a man washed ashore with a wooden chest. It is apparent that the contents of the chest is rather valuable when three more individuals come looking for their property. Nylholm's film never truly ignites. It instead smoulders. Tension is turned up by the three leads as their predicament gets the better of them. Greed, guilt and madness ensues in what Is a superbly crafted movie. It's a shame Butler doesn't lend himself more to these type of roles and allow himself to flex those acting chops rather than his muscles. Don't get me wrong I love his cheesy action roles but here he's allowed to shine as an actor. Mullen is the father figure of the crew and he is the one turned to for wisdom and advice whilst Swndells character is the naive new Youngblood. I recommend that you watch this film. It's slow but captivating like a good mystery thriller should be.

In the bonus track of the DVD of "Keepers," the producers described the themes of their film as "greed, paranoia, and isolation." It is a saga of how decent men can lapse into barbarism and madness. It is a tale of the "de-civilization of man."

The film is based on a true story of the disappearance of three lighthouse keepers on Flannan Island off the coast of Scotland. In the year 1900, the three men were a routine call of duty to operate the lighthouse. But all three disappeared and were never seen again. Investigations turned up no evidence of foul play. Theories of paranormal phenomena resulted from the "vanishing."

The twist that filmmakers give to the story is one that may not be attributed to the forces of nature. Rather, it was the flawed nature of the humans themselves that led to their undoing. There is a crucial moment in the film that it is turning point when Thomas, the leader of the lighthouse crew orders the other two men not to open a locked chest that has washed up on the shore under suspicious circumstances.

The other two men, James and Donald, want to open the chest, but, for the moment, they abide by their leader's decision. But, in the middle of the night, Thomas himself cannot resist opening the chest. Thomas, James, and Donald then give way to their baser instincts by peering inside the small chest. The balance of the film is a concatenation of events stemming from opening Pandora's Box.

All three of the performances were outstanding from Peter Mullan (Thomas), Gerard Butler (James), and Connor Swindells (Donald). On the negative side, the film was far too violent. After making the point about how the three men unleash their demons from the beast within, the film became depressing with so many gory fights and death scenes.

In the early scenes of the film, it appeared as though the three lighthouse keepers would be doing battle with the natural elements. But it turned out that the perfect storm was set in motion not by the thunder, lightning, and wind, but by the human emotion of greed and the lack of restraint in refusing to honor the cardinal rule of keeping Pandora's Box shut.

The director of "Taboo", a very intriguing premise, good mix of genres, pretty high metascore & Gerrard Butler - of course I had to watch this! Was I disappointed? Certainly. Mild spoilers ahead.

It's an interesting story, one of those spooky historic little mysteries, that's behind the plot of this movie - it helds a hell of a lot more potential that this movie brought to the screen. The script is one the biggest flaws here, the pacing's next. There's a lot of long scenes centered around pieces of boring dialogues with little substance, but at the same time it feels like the filmmakers are extremely proud of their character writing, which they definitely shouldn't be. The story is interesting for about half of the movie, until the point when draggy pacing & unimpactful plot points just start to frustrate You. So those are the flaws, the biggest, anyways. Acting seems to be mostly on level, but, even though I feel like I can never rightly critisize actors performances, I have to say that Gerrard Butlers portrayal of a lighthouse keeper gone mad was pretty damn stale. Cinematography feels kinda shy, the beautiful setting is not used that much, for budgetary reasons, I imagine. "The vanishing" could've used a bit more violence as well, but there is a single pretty good little action scene. While the filmmakers seemingly tried really hard to create the grim, bleak atmosphere that's supposed to be there, they succeeded maybe halfway. It just doesn't get there really.

Overall I would call this an underwhelming experience that leaves the viewer slightly angry because he knows it could've been better. My rating: 5/10.

THE VANISHING is the second recent film I've watched that's been based on the real-life Flannan Isles lighthouse mystery, and I know of at least two more in existence. The first I saw was a creature flick with Ray Stevenson that turned out to be surprisingly enjoyable, more so than this one. The problem with this film lies in the writing, which is merely average and acceptable rather than being compelling.

It's a slow burner when it doesn't need to be, and the running time does feel stretched at times, leading to repetition in terms of revealing character traits that have already been previously examined. The thriller aspects are handled better and things get more and more interesting towards the climax. Cast-wise, Peter Mullan is dependable and you can tell that Gerard Butler is relishing the opportunity to play something other than a stock action hero.

This is my first review but I felt I needed to vent once I'd watched this.

When I first read about The Vanishing/Keepers I was intrigued. I have studied the original mystery surrounding the Eilean Mor so was naturally excited to watch a movie with a possible explanation of the disappearance of the three lighthouse keepers.

Was my curiosity aroused again?

NOPE.

Nothing in this movie, apart from the names of the keepers and the remote location, resembled the 'facts' surrounding the mystery.

Where were the lighthouse logs detailing the extreme weather? The initial mystery was supposed to take place in December, the setting in this movie does not look like winter to me. There are so many things that have been left out.

I know that this is (possibly) artistic license but if you're going to do a movie about the unsolved mystery of The Flannan Isles then at least do your research otherwise change the names and do not base it on a real event.

The setting and acting were superb which has saved it from a 1 star review and there's a solid bit of violence about half way through but other than that you have nothing.

Initially I was excited at the prospect of seeing what the film makers made of this mystery but ultimately I was left angry and wholly disappointed.

This IS a true story, but this movie is PURE FICTION. Having read the accounts of this incident, that happened 4 days before Christmas in 1900, there is no possible way this movie should exist. If so it would be three guys getting off a boat onto an Island and then men coming to replace them and finding nothing. Because NO ONE KNOWS WHAT HAPPENED!! It is also supposed to have happened in December..On an remote Island off Scotland. You know how friggin' cold that is? But the men just go outside with no coats. Also, by law, there always has to be 1 man maning the station. But so many times the three of them are outside. There is this 1 small, small, small, hint at what might be transpiring (In the movie. NOT in the true story) At one point the men find mercury had spilled out of the light from the lighthouse. They all put on these hazmat suits and Gerard Butler's character tells the young kid about the hazards of "Liquid Silver" and a little later on we see Gerard Butler staring into the light and talking gibberish to himself and for a quick second they shoot to a small puddle of mercury at his feet. So I assume that meant he got poisoned and he went berserk? I have no clue. It was Pretty to look at, The acting was good, But the story was a bust! Waste of what could have been a good film. Hopefully someone takes it and makes a movie about the incident with the investigation. That is something we know happened.

I managed to watch this movie on Amazon streaming. The story is pretty easy to follow, fortunately, because if you are not from Scotland most of the dialog is not understandable.

It immediately reminded me of the 1998 movie, "A Simple Plan", where ordinary people came across a downed plane and a big load of drug money. Instead of turning it in they devised a plan to keep it, greed and guilt finally led to the demise of some.

Here the three men operate a lighthouse on a small island off the coast of Scotland, a small boat, a chest of gold, and a dead man are discovered. At least they thought he was dead until he tried to kill his rescuer.

They will be wealthy if they keep the gold for themselves but then others show up looking for it. As in "A Simple Plan" things escalate and leads to the gradual demise of most everyone.

Not a particularly good movie but it is interesting for the actors.

Never take anything that doesn't belong to you. We have seen this many times in the movies, when people appropriating ill-begotten wealth always end up in a bad way. The ending is almost certain a foregone conclusion.

This latest variation on the same theme is based on the mystery of the Flannan Isles, off the coast of Scotland, where three lighthouse keepers disappeared in December 1900. No one knows what happened. The men simply vanished from the island.

This speculative script does not involve anything supernatural. Everything that transpires is the consequence of human actions. A chain of events that sweeps the men past a point of no return.

The lighthouse keepers - Thomas, James and Donald - played by Peter Mullan, Gerard Butler and Connor Swindells respectively, arrive on the island for their six-week stint. They quickly set into their routine, doing maintenance, lighting the lamp, and taking turns with the cooking and chores. In a small compound on an isolated island, each man has his place, whether he's a seasoned captain or a young novice.

Once the introduction is done, the movie dives straight into the start of the mystery. Almost by pure chance, the men catches sight of someone washed up onshore under a cliff. Donald climbs down to find the stranger dead, with a heavy wooden trunk. While James and Thomas pull the trunk up by rope, the dead man, who turns out not to be dead, attacks Donald and out of self-defense, Donald kills him.

Before they're able to fully process the aftermath of killing another human, they find gold bars in the trunk. James and Donald are euphoric, believing this will change their lives forever, as Thomas remains cautious.

Then a boat arrives with a couple of sinister looking fellows asking for their mate who fled with their loot. The keepers lie; and they know the intruders know they're lying. Before the night is over, violence will take over and the intruders will be dead.

Like a storm that comes out of nowhere, everything changes in an instant. The keepers make quick plans, split-second decisions, which only land them in the deep end and for more than one, a swift descent into mental meltdown.

In a confined environment with nowhere to run, the next few hours become emotionally charged and tense. Director Kristoffer Nyholm skilfully takes the movie on a sharp turn in mood and atmosphere, all the way to its unsparing and bleak conclusion. By this time, he has also developed character sympathy as we learn about how Thomas's wife and babies died many years ago, James's young family waiting for his return, and Donald's unrequited first love.

All three actors give commendable performances. Peter Mullan is solemn and grounded as the one with the most experience, but his sense of caution doesn't preclude him from making some fateful decisions that might arguably cast him as a villain. Gerard Butler shows dramatic chops with a strong presence and a contrast between his brute strength and vulnerability. Connor Swindell's character shows the most change by the time he meets his end. A different man from the one who landed on the island not so long ago.

Although the mystery of the Flannan isles happened over a hundred years ago, this movie shows it's lost none of the fascination. Naturally, with the disappearance of the men the story assumes the worst. Nobody comes home, and not all will survive. In the hands of Kristoffer Nyholm and writers Joe Bone and Celyn Jones, The Vanishing is a tale of fundamental human drives and bad decisions. Well made and moody, it deserves to have a wider audience.