The Vanishing
A FAMILY meet their violent doubles in this scary but muddled horror. BURLY fishermen take on the pop charts in a gentle British comedy. TWO photogenic youngsters with cystic fibrosis risk it all for love.
ANDY’S RATING: ★★★ In cinemas on Friday
GERARD Butler shines in this windswept psychological drama set at a remote Scottish lighthouse.
Nobody knows what happened to three keepers who disappeared from the Flannan Isles in 1900.
So this tense drama posits a very movie-friendly theory involving a chest full of gold and Scandinavian ne’er-do-wells who wash up shortly afterwards.
If you’ve seen The Treasure Of Sierra Madre, Shallow Grave or Pulp Fiction, you’ll know that sudden riches can play havoc with the minds of men.
As much as I love Butler’s indestructible bodyguard in his two Has Fallen films, it was refreshing to see him trying his hand at acting.
As his good-natured lighthouse keeper crumbles under the pressure, there are some genuine flashes of brilliance from the Paisley-born star.
I reckon he could even make career out of it.
Peter Mullan is less surprising as the grumpiest and oldest seadog. It’s an accomplished turn but well within his usual range.
But Connor Swindells, who made an impressive debut in rap drama Vs., confirms he is one to watch with a compelling performance as the youngest and twitchiest of the trio.
It’s a small movie but very well made. The atmosphere is brooding and the plot turns as quickly as the North Atlantic weather.