Gone

A year ago, Jill Parrish (Amanda Seyfried) was kidnapped by a sick serial killer, but managed to escape before he could kill her. Since then, Jill has been firmly convinced that the killer will come back to finish what he failed to do the first time. When the young waitress comes home one morning after a night shift to find that her sister Molly (Emily Wickersham) has disappeared, she is convinced that her abductor has now grabbed Molly. But the police don't want to believe her, as they have always doubted that Jill has been kidnapped and that this mysterious killer exists. Jill knows she must now search for her sister on her own and face her greatest fear. But as she begins her hunt for the killer, she quickly finds herself targeted by the police. A race against time begins...

Gone is certainly not particularly original, but it is certainly entertaining thriller. Director Heitor Dhalia embeds the familiar genre ingredients in atmospheric images and spices the whole thing up with a decent pace. Thus, there are no notable lengths, which noticeably increases the entertainment value of the film. As Dhalia rushes his leading lady Amanda Seyfried through the streets of Portland and the woods of Oregon, the viewer is happy to stay tuned - even if the story itself has few real surprises to offer.

It becomes clear time and again that the film's weaknesses lie not with the staging, nor with the actors, but most likely with the script. Because as much as Amanda Seyfried, who has shown her acting skills and a certain versatility in some movies in the past, tries, she is not allowed to do much more than looking around with her big eyes. The dialogue put into the mouths of the actors is just as cliched as the characters themselves.

So high standards should not be expected here. But Heitor Dhalia really makes the most of the script he was given by Allison Burnett, who wrote the script for the remake of Fame, among others. Especially the sequences set in the woods he has directed in a thrilling manner and filled with ominous atmosphere. And as far as the identity of the killer is concerned, he at least manages to lead the audience a little bit on the wrong track before it comes to the rather weak resolution. So Gone isn't really a great movie, but thanks to the good directing, the engaging camerawork and the hard-working actors, all lovers of solid US thrillers are at least offered some entertaining entertainment and a little bit of suspense. Not more, but also not less. And for that there is just one: Worth seeing!

An article by Frankfurt-Tipp