Vanished into the Night – Movie Review | Netflix (3/5)

VANISHED INTO THE NIGHT on Netflix is an Italian Mystery Thriller (org. title: Svanti Nella Notte). Both English and Italian are spoken and it’s a remake of a Spanish movie. Read our full Vanished into the Night movie review here!

VANISHED INTO THE NIGHT is a new Netflix Mystery Thriller from Italy (org. title: Svanti Nella Notte).  For those worried about any language barrier, I want to mention that both Italian and English are spoken throughout.

The film stars Annabelle Wallis and Riccardo Scamarcio, and the former portrays an American character. The movie itself is tense and fast-paced, so the entertainment value is certainly there. Also, the runtime is right around an hour and a half, which works well for the story.

Continue reading our Vanished into the Night movie review below. Find it on Netflix from July 11, 2024.

A real and fast-paced nightmare

In Vanished into the Night, we meet Elena (Annabelle Wallis), who is an American psychiatrist who came to live in Italy, in Puglia, for the love of Pietro (Riccardo Scamarcio), a man with a stormy past.

The two are going through a divorce and Elena wants to move back to the US with their two children. There’s clearly still love between the two, but too much drama with addiction (of various kinds on both sides) has broken their family.

One night, just as Elena is heading to the US – and Pietro is being accosted by people he owes money to – their children vanish into thin air. The children went to bed, and when he checked on them they were gone. Seemingly vanished into the night – hence the title!

Then they receive a phone call: their children have been kidnapped. To get them back, a ransom of 150,000 euros must be paid within 36 hours. In order to get that kind of cash, Pietro is forced to do things he vowed he never would.

This is where the movie begins, but it is not where it ends!

Italian remake of a Spanish movie

It may sound strange to make an Italian remake of a Spanish movie that’s only a good decade old. However, it really isn’t that uncommon that Spanish movies are remade in Italian – or vice versa, I should add. Often small changes are included and this one does differ as well.

Also, I love the more international premise of Vanished into the Night with the Italian-American couple at the center. Even though Annabelle Wallis apparently speaks Italian, and both leads have dialogue in two languages. Quite impressive and a cool detail.

MORE WITH ANNABELLE WALLIS

The British-born genre darling also starred in several James Wan movies >

Anyway, if Vanished into the Night feels familiar, it could be because you’ve watched the Spanish movie Séptimo from 2013. That one was directed by Patxi Amezcuaand (Netflix’s Infiesto) who also co-wrote the screenplay with Alejo Flah (The Courier).

Also, fans of Spanish-language genre movies should recognize the stars of the original movie. Séptimo starred Belén Rueda and Ricardo Darín. Ricardo Darín starred in the Oscar-winning El secreto de sus ojos (2009) which got a US remake as Secret in Their Eyes and starred Julia Roberts and Nicole Kidman.

You’ll know Belén Rueda from The Orphanage (2007), Julia’s Eyes (2010), and El cuerpo (2012) which has already been remade in both South Korea and India.

Watch Vanished into the Night on Netflix now!

This latest Italian Netflix Mystery Thriller was directed by Renato De Maria. Previously, Renato De Maria also directed the Netflix crime drama The Ruthless (org. title: Lo spietato) in 2019. That movie also starred Riccardo Scamarcio – the two have worked together several times.

The screenplay comes from screenwriters Francesca Marciano and Luca Infascelli. As already mentioned, it was based on the Spanish movie Séptimo. Writers of this Italian remake, Francesca Marciano and Luca Infascelli, previously both worked on the 2024 mini-series L’arte della gioia.

For me, Vanished into the Night is solid entertainment, but nothing mind-blowing. Nor does it need to be. Sure, there’s a mystery and many plot twists along the way. For the most part, it all works smoothly, but some of it is a tad too predictable for my taste. The cast is great though!

Vanished into the Night (org. title: Svanti Nella Notte) is on Netflix from July 11, 2024.

Details

Director: Renato De Maria
Script: Francesca Marciano, Luca Infascelli
Stars: Riccardo Scamarcio, Annabelle Wallis, Massimiliano Gallo, Gaia Coletti, Lorenzo Ferrante