Vanishing on 7th Street is about what happens when people suddenly disappear when it is dark and the days shorten to nothing. People must stay in the light to survive, but sources of light are harder to come by. There are four main characters played by John Leguizamo, Hayden Christensen, Thandie Newton and Jacob Latimore.
Vanishing on 7th Street started off really interesting. John Leguizamo makes the whole premise initially believable. His character’s reference to Roanoke Colony made me excited that the film may draw connections to the historical event. I also love movies that herald movie lovers and the clever remark about Newton. The individual performances vary in quality, but the actors’ performances as an ensemble and chemistry are not strong enough to prop up the unexplained reason behind the apocalypse in Vanishing on 7th Street. I actually enjoy films that have an inexplicable apocalypse such as The Mist, but the acting and story have to be strong enough to stop your mind from wandering and wondering. Though it borrows elements from Christian films dealing with a Biblical apocalypse, I don’t think that Vanishing on 7th Street’s apocalypse can be explained by the rapture.
S
P
O
I
L
E
R
S
Only animals seem to be exempt from being vulnerable to the darkness. Babies aren’t. Except for the child, two of the three characters are people of questionable character: an adulterer and a drug addict, but all three adults disappear. So the darkness will consume any human being regardless of character and is able to deceive victims so it has a massive mental perception component that can read very human being’s mind and manipulate those minds simultaneously. The darkness also seems to be able to drain power from objects and organic matter thus why electric lights diminish and candles go out. No one wants to be taken, and when someone disappears, that person hears a voice that sounds like a loved one, but isn’t and sees someone that he or she wants to see. People seem to be aware of obliteration because a couple of characters scream “I exist” with varying results as the darkness encroaches. The darkness can be supernatural or a primeval being that finally found a way to defeat and manipulate our technology. Vanishing on 7th Street seemed to allure to a possible scientific answer, but it is not really explored.
Vanishing on 7th Street reminded me of a bleaker version of season 11 of Supernatural. In both, the days become shorter, and the sunlight dimmer. Vanishing on 7th Street was a more spiritual, philosophical supernatural version of The Darkest Hour, but the unexplained phenomenon affected inanimate objects and people. Vanishing on 7th Street borrows heavily from the imagery of The Walking Dead.
Brad Anderson directed Vanishing on 7th Street. Anderson also directed one of the scariest films of all times, Session 9, and The Machinist. Anderson is into themes of suppressed guilt and is a master at creating atmosphere, which Vanishing on 7th Street evokes, but ultimately Vanishing on 7th Street failed to deliver anything solid in terms of character or plot development to its audiences.