The Vanishing of Sidney Hall Movie Review (2017)

A spellbinding drama following a successful young author across multiple stages of his life as the circumstances surrounding his disappearance slowly unfold, The Vanishing of Sidney Hall is a compelling film with an intriguing mystery and a nonlinear structure that keeps the story consistently interesting.

I am a movie watcher who has a habit of watching films I’ve never heard of before. There is often no plan when I want to watch a movie. I scroll through the streaming services I subscribe to or look through my watchlist, let the name or poster of a movie catch my eye, and hit play. It often doesn’t work to my advantage, and I’ve seen some real stinkers (I’m looking at you, The Legend of Mermaid), but I’ve also been very pleasantly surprised.

The Vanishing Of Sidney Hall is about a reclusive writer. Having written some of the greatest books of his time, Sidney Hall has removed himself from the grid. As a string of arsons occur across the country, a detective believes Sidney may be setting the fires. The movie delves into events from Sidney’s high school years, romantic relationships, writing and publishing journeys, and media campaigns.

I thought this was an extremely compelling drama. I imagine it has mixed reviews, but I was intrigued from the beginning, and the narrative continually reeled me in until I was adamant about getting all the answers to my questions.

This is not an “easy” movie, and it requires you to hang in there while it knits all of the pieces together. It is designed in a nonlinear structure, so you get pieces of Sidney’s life, but only what they want you to know. For a film about a missing person, whose history and reasoning are a mystery to most, I thought that piecemealing the information was the most riveting way to present it to the audience. It keeps you wanting more.

That said, there is one thing that nagged at me throughout the film. You see sections of Sidney’s life as a teenager, a twenty-something, and an older person. At the point during which he is reclusive and keeps away from other people, he has shaggy hair and a beard. It was clearly important to differentiate where he was in time by his looks, but his beard was truly distracting. I was able to shove it away eventually, but don’t say I didn’t warn you.

For a film like The Vanishing Of Sidney Hall, I think it’s vital that I don’t discuss the plot at length, as it will take away from your experience. So I’ll just say this: I watch a lot of movies. A lot. And this is one that I will continue to think about for several different reasons. It is not a perfect film, but I found it extremely intriguing, and I was wholly invested in the story. I was actually a little disappointed when it was over, like finishing a good book. I imagine I’ll watch it again because I’m not quite ready to let go of it yet. I hope you like it as much as I did.

Runtime: 120 minutes

Motion Picture Rating: R

Languages Spoken In The Film: English

Should You Watch It? Yes

Did I Cry? Nope

My Rating: 3.5/5 Stars

Available: Free on Netflix, to rent on Prime Video, or may be available for free on other streaming platforms