Die Vermissten (2012) Reviews

• Some weaknesses, but overall a success

  Horst_In_Translation2017-02-23

  "Die Vermissten" or "Reported Missing" is a German movie from 2012, so this one has its 5th anniversary this year. It is relatively short, barely makes it past the 80-minute mark and it is the probably most known work by writer and director Jan Speckenbach. But this also keeps the film somewhat essential. This is the tale of what happens when a father goes on the search for his missing daughter. It becomes obvious that at least one other child has gone missing, later on even more. The lead actor is André Hennicke and I found it nice to see him play a central character for once with all the supporting stuff he usually does. He certainly elevates the material by a lot here. As for the film itself, it was probably at its best early on when we see him search for the girl and the revelation what actually happened comes pretty quickly afterward and I did not find it too convincing. The wall of silence about these events rarely makes sense to me and the explanation why families and police or politics even won't do anything did not really feel too convincing for me. Also the character of Lou, basically the interface between the main character and his daughter, did not add as much quality as I would have hoped, especially looking at how crucial her character is. Admittedly the way she goes out of the picture shows that it is somewhat daring in terms of the writing and I also really liked the final haunting shot of the father looking down at his daughter among the group. Finally not a forced happy ending, but something that feels real and authentic and actually also offers some solid room for discussion. Did he realize this moment she is where she belongs? Or is his face expression and rigidity in that moment just pure shock? What is he gonna do next? Is the fact that it ends there an indicator of how the story also ends for him in his attempts of getting his daughter back? What is he gonna do next? It's all wide open. Anyway, while I think it was an okay watch, i also think the film got slightly worse around the 30-minute mark with all the revelations happening quickly at that point. It is a pretty solid movie, but still a missed opportunity at the same time and it could have been one of the best films of 2012 if they had chosen another explanation behind the missing or at least elaborated more convincingly on the path they took. Still because of Hennicke's strong performance and some other solid moments, I give this one a thumbs-up and recommend checking it out.

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