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Vanished Into the Night, the Italian thriller by Renato De Maria, was released on Netflix on July 11, 2024. The official synopsis of the film reads:
“A father, immersed in a difficult divorce process, embarks on a dangerous mission when his children disappear from their isolated country house.”
Vanished Into the Night is set in Bari, Italy, and revolves around an estranged couple, Pietro and Elena, who are going through a strenuous divorce process. Things get more complicated than ever when their children are kidnapped. This results in a frantic search on the father’s part.
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Vanished into the Night comes with a shocking twist at the end. As Pietro (Riccardo Scamarcio) finally procures the ransom amount, it is revealed that no kidnapping had taken place to begin with; the disappearance of the children was a ploy orchestrated by Elena (Annabelle Wallis), designed to paint Pietro as a criminal.
Thus, the ending presents the disturbing twist that it was the mother who had taken away the kids herself, in order to set Pietro up to take on any illegal task in a desperate attempt to collect the ransom amount in a short time.
Vanished Into the Night twist is both shocking and heartbreaking
At the film's start, Elena and Pietro are shown living very different lives. Elena wants to move to America to pursue a career as a psychiatrist, while Pietro wants to stay in Italy. Both have addictions: Elena abuses pills, and Pietro is a gambler who has squandered Elena’s money and still owes debts.
This discord sets the tone for Vanished Into the Night. The plot progresses as Elena goes on vacation, leaving the kids with Pietro. It soon becomes clear that Pietro owes a large amount of money due to his gambling.
However, things take a grim turn when Pietro finds his two children missing when he goes to check on them in their bedroom. He immediately calls Elena and lets her know of the same. Soon after, he receives a call in which a man demands 150,000 euros for the safe return of the kids.
Elena arrives and asks Pietro to seek the help of Nicola, an acquaintance of Pietro's who has connections with the criminal world. Nicola gives Pietro a job that involves executing a drug deal in Greece. The plight of a desperate father is one of the most prominent themes in Vanished Into the Night.
Pietro pulls off the job, despite its risks, and finally gets the money. As he returns to Elena’s apartment with the money, he is awestruck to see that the kids are there with her and they are perfectly safe and normal. When he asks Elena about the kidnap, the latter replies that no such thing ever took place and that he is just imagining things.
Further, we learn that she recorded an audio file where Pietro is talking about the drug deal and the money he got because of it. Elena threatened him with the same, saying she would present it to the court to prove that he was a dubious character and an unfit guardian for their children.
Vanished Into the Night here throws a question at the audience: “Is Pietro losing his mind?” Stranger events are yet to unfold.
Pietro comes back to his place and finds an empty pill packet in the toilet. It is eventually revealed that Elena actually used her pills on the kids to drug them and kidnap them. Naturally, they do not have any memory of this.
Pietro learns from a doctor that traces of the pill could still be found in the bodies of the children, and since this could be a useful evidence in court, Pietro goes to the airport and confronts Elena, who confesses that she did this so she could take their kids and move to the US.
Elena further says that she tried to set Pietro up to do something criminal in order to get the money at such a short notice, which worked out. However, having enough evidence in his own favor now, he returns home with the kids. The money he managed to make goes to his debtee.
However, in the last moments of Vanished Into the Night, as Pietro nostalgically looks at a family photo, there is a mysterious figure in the frame. The outfit tells the viewer that it is Elena. Is a reconciliation at hand? Or will there be another confrontation — a final one?
The twist and ending of the movie are particularly shocking and heartbreaking because one generally does not expect a parent to go to such a length as Elena went to in the story.
Vanished Into the Night: cast, streaming options
Riccardo Scamarcio, who was previously seen in Mine Vaganti, A Haunting in Venice, or the John Wick movies, plays Pietro La Torre. Elena is portrayed by Annabelle Wallis who also starred in Peaky Blinders, The Tudors, among others. Massimiliano Gallo plays Nicola, Pietro’s old friend.
Vanished Into the Night is based on the movie 7th Floor (Séptimo) by Patxi Amezcua and Alejo Flah.
Vanished Into the Night is now streaming on Netflix.
