I liked this film. It starts out a bit slow, almost like a dysfunctional family piece, but it quickly picks up speed after that. It has some very creepy moments but it is the overall atmosphere of the film that makes it so good. There are no huge special effects or anything, but you can see that the producers and director of this film have been really good at stretching their budget and making the most out of the little money they had. For instance all the music throughout the film is made by a real orchestra and not just a guy with a synth. It makes the film sound bigger.It's a good buy if you want a low-key, but quality chiller!

After a tragic accident, and a stay at mental health unit, Matthew returns to his home with his father, and the disappearance of his brother still looming over them.Matthew watches a few tapes of appeals and soon, starts to hear his brother calling him and sees I'm from afar.He appeals to his father, but he seems to blame him for his brothers disappearance, after all, he was supposed to be looking after him, but had a party and let him go to the playground.So Matthew is trying to rebuild his life, and although his friends and his councillor support him, he cannot let go. And neither can his brother.......It's really well acted, and the lead is phenomenal, as is the actor playing his father. And although nothing really happens throughout the film to shock, the build up and the brooding atmosphere of the tower block keeps you interested.The best aspect of the film is the relay ship between Matthew and his father. Bothe are really to blame for the boys disappearance, but both know this and have ammunition for one another. The father is the type with a short temper, and he at times seems like he is going to explode.The final third lets the side down a little though, going for the old serial killer routine and although some of the twists are really obvious from the start (Amy for one is the most obvious) it does try to treat the viewer as intelligent being rather than a gore hound.The serial killer side of the film was hopefully just for absolution for the missing boy, but it really does feel out of place here.But other than that, it's an amazing piece of cinema with two wonderful performances from the two leads.

I was pleasantly surprised at the overall quality of this indie effort. From the opening scene the tension in the father/son relationship is palpable and they maintain the intensity w/o too much dialog to rely on. Kudos to both actors for very strong performances. The look and feel of this movie are spot on and the score is also an asset. The editing was a bit choppy and the film did seem to drag a little but there were no scenes that felt like they should have been left on the cutting room floor. I was confused at times and that added to the feeling that I just wanted them to get on with it, so to speak. Where the effort falls short is in the ending. It does build to a point and then the writing fails the actors. The last 20 minutes are cliché ridden and lack any originality. Come on, the pedophile who isn't who he says he is and oh yeah, by the way, he also happens to wear his collar backwards? The communications with dead people cross a line that Sixth Sense never did. We watch as the murderer has his head bashed in (4 violent blows) with a rather large stone and he disappears before the police arrive. It feels like they tried to address all the misdirections and somehow made things more confusing. I must say that the ending left a very bad taste in my mouth. This is sad mostly because of the very solid effort that preceded it. The writers and production staff deserve high marks for making a film that came so very close to being something special but in the end(literally) fell short. One final comment about the cast. What made this movie good were the performances from top to bottom. They all deserve praise and applause fr their efforts.

The Disappeared is set in a rundown working class region of England & starts as teenager Matthew Ryan (Harry Treadaway) is released from hospital, going home with his father Jake (Greg Wise) there is an undeniable tension between the two over the disappearance of Matthew's younger brother Tom. One blames the other although it was Matthew's responsibility to look after Tom when he disappeared, Matthew was at a party & let Tom wander outside at night on his own from which point he hasn't been seen again. Matthew starts to hears Tom's voice, Matthew thinks he sees quick flashes of Tom & becomes convinced that his missing brother is trying to tell him something. His father thinks Matthew is crazy but after following the clues & messages Matthew thinks he has discovered what happened to Tom...This British production was co-written, co-produced & directed by Johnny Kevorkian & like so many low budget wannabe classic films that do the rounds at festivals & get great write-ups I simply cannot see what the fuss is about, I found The Disappeared a dreary thriller with slight supernatural overtones that in the end felt to me like a much more grim take on The Sixth Sense (1999) with the main twist at the end. Seriously, The Disappeared is basically a depressing take on The Sixth Sense & I stand by the fact I think the ending of the two films are very similar. I am not quite sure what the makers of The Disappeared were aiming for or who they thought their audience would be, the majority of The Disappeared feels like a gritty British drama set on a scummy rundown council estate (don't knock them, people have to live in these places) where nothing good ever happens as it's always grey, depressing & full of yobs, the unemployed & abused children. The Disappeared certainly tries to show the uglier side of Britain & what the working class way of life. The first thirty odd minutes is decent enough drama I suppose but then the supernatural aspect is gradually introduced, first it's just voices but soon develops into visiting ghost's & seeing strange religious symbols. I wasn't keen on the ending either, the paedophile priest is something that we have all become aware of because of the media here in the UK so again the makers take delight in showing the seedier & nastier side of British life to no great effect. The twist reveal at the end doesn't even make that much sense, while Matthew supposedly killed the villain it's also said later the body was never found so what gives? At an hour & a half it drags a little in places & I can't say I was enthralled although it does have it's moments & can be quite powerful at times.Although almost certainly deliberate The Disappeared has a really grey, dreary & dull look about it with no bright colours evident at all. The real life scummy council estate location looks suitably rank & I can confirm there are places that ratty here in the UK. There is definitely an atmosphere here, not a scary one but a depressing downbeat one that makes The Disappeared a little soul destroying to watch at times. The script takes itself very seriously & there's no comic relief or throwaway humour here at all. Violence & gore is minimal, in fact I can't remember any gore at all but that's clearly not what The Disappeared is about. It's about grief, it's about relationships, it's about an atmosphere of hopelessness & it's about the supernatural.Filmed on location here in the UK in London The Disappeared does look pretty good, the production values are solid but the final ten minutes or so are too dark & there's too much of that shaky camera rubbish. The cast do a great job to be fair, the leads are excellent but in a way that makes the film even more downbeat than it already is.The Disappeared is a film that I can look at & see that it's very well made with excellent acting & a potentially strong story but the whole downbeat atmosphere, The Sixth Sense twist & questions left unanswered by the conclusion left me feeling underwhelmed. Some may like it's gritty approach but I didn't I'm afraid.