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Synopsis

It starts with a power outage. Where once stood living beings are now piles of discarded clothes. The once sunny city is shrouded in blackness. Shadows creep across every surface and whispers echo in the empty streets. Is it some form of enemy attack or a swift judgment from the divine? Each passing day contains fewer daylight hours, and only those who cling to some other form of light can escape the encroaching darkness.

A small group of survivors congregate in an old bar powered by a gas generator. Luke (Hayden Christensen) is a slick TV anchor forced to live by his wits. Paul (John Leguizamo) is a lonely projectionist working in a multiplex theatre. Rosemary (Thandie Newton) is a distraught mother whose baby is missing, and James (Jacob Latimore) is a shotgun-toting kid waiting for his mother to return. With their light sources slowly dying, they must find alternative illumination and a way out of the city. Overcome with paranoia and fear, the group struggles to understand the events that have brought them together.

Having established himself as a master of cinematic shock and dementia with Session 9 and The Machinist, Brad Anderson continues to produce nerve-wracking cinema. Leaping from a scenario straight out of The Twilight Zone, Anderson strips away the comfort of sunlight and replaces it with haunting existential questions. Using dark, murky tones as his palette, Anderson and cinematographer Uta Briesewitz (Session 9) craft a stark but evocative journey through the most menacing of nights.

More interested in detailed characters than disposable victims, Anderson brings out a new-found maturity in Hayden Christensen, who portrays a man struggling to hide his own panicked fears and emotions. A dark and challenging film, Vanishing on 7th Street never condescends to the audience and is sure to fuel conversations about loneliness, alienation, basic primal fears and, ultimately, our raison d’être. –TIFF.net

Director

Original

Brad Anderson

Brad Anderson (born 1964) is a film director. A director of thriller and horror films and television projects, he is best known for having directed The Machinist (2004), starring Christian Bale, as well as producing and directing several installments of the FOX science-fiction series Fringe.

Early life

Anderson was born in Madison, Connecticut, the son of Pamela Taylor Anderson, a community services administrator. He is the nephew of Emmy Award-winning actress Holland Taylor. Before he began his film career, he attended Bowdoin College, where he majored in anthropology and Russian. He then went to London to finish his film education before returning to Boston.

Film career

His films have varied from Sundance Film Festival audience favorites (and romantic comedies) Next Stop Wonderland (1998) and Happy Accidents (2000) to darker films such as Session 9 (2001) and The Machinist (2004), starring Christian Bale. He was inspired to use the Danvers State Hospital… read more

Wall

Displaying 4 of 16 wall posts.
Picture of subtonal

subtonal

26Feb13

couldn't get through the first half...I got farther than I did in "Jack and Jill" though

Picture of robotkathleen

robotkathleen

19Dec12

I like its modesty. Technically not a great movie, but superficial stories and qualities aside - we're all surrounded by that 'ultimate' inevitable, mysterious shadow, our brittle egos in fear of death/disappearance desperately affirming that 'i exist i exist i exist', fear, reasons to live, meaning, loss etc. The ending is yes, lame by some standards, but archetypal of natural innocence pressing on. Simple. Nice.

  • Picture of robotkathleen

    robotkathleen

    19Dec12

    also, there's the simple business of light akin to life. so snuffable and isolated as per the universe.

Picture of Marcus Killerby

Marcus Killerby

10Oct12

The message seemed to be that unless we make the switch to environmentally friendly energy sources we will all die. I wish I'd done what the cinema audience at the start does and vanished. What happened to the talent promised with The Machinist and Session 9?

Picture of febryo

febryo

11Sep11

what a waste of time. I hate it's open-endedness.

Janit likes this

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Where Is Peter Graves When You Need Him? Brad Anderson's THE VANISHING ON 7TH STREET

By Twitchfilm.com on May 17, 2011
Outre’ cinema’s Brad Anderson almost hit’s the mark yet again, but ends up literally grasping at shadows in his new could-have-been-great The Vanishing On 7’th Street…….
read on Twitchfilm.com

Sitges 2010: VANISHING ON 7TH STREET Review

By Twitchfilm.com on May 17, 2011
Brad Anderson’s latest film is a bit of an odd beast. It is a creepy film that is not all that creepy while watching it. It is a apocalypse survivor film where no one is going to survive. The villain……
read on Twitchfilm.com

TIFF 2010: THE VANISHING ON 7TH STREET Review

By Twitchfilm.com on May 17, 2011
Brad Anderson’s latest film is a bit of an odd beast. It is a creepy film that is not all that creepy while watching it. It is a apocalypse survivor film where no one is going to survive. The……
read on Twitchfilm.com

TIFF 2010: First Trailer For Brad Anderson's VANISHING ON 7TH STREET

By Twitchfilm.com on April 29, 2011
Hot on the heels of yesterday’s post about Brad Anderson’s Midnight Madness selected thriller Vanishing On 7th Street, today the first trailer was added to the film’s official website. It strikes me very
read on Twitchfilm.com

TIFF 2010: Images And Interview Footage For Brad Anderson's VANISHING ON 7TH STREET

By Twitchfilm.com on April 29, 2011
When a massive power blackout causes the population to inexplicably vanish, a small handful of survivors (Hayden Christensen, Thandie Newton, John Leguizamo) band together inside a desolate tavern, struggling
read on Twitchfilm.com

Second Trailer for Brad Anderson's VANISHING ON 7TH STREET

By Twitchfilm.com on April 29, 2011
There seem to be a lot of folks who have seen Brad Anderson’s latest feature, Vanishing on 7th Street, that want the film that is on offer this in this second trailer; a post-apocalyptic action/survivor
read on Twitchfilm.com

Sitges 2010: VANISHING ON 7TH STREET Review

By Twitchfilm.net on October 11, 2010
Brad Anderson’s latest film is a bit of an odd beast. It is a creepy film that is not all that creepy while watching it. It is a apocalypse survivor film where no one is going to survive. The villain…
read on Twitchfilm.net

TIFF 2010: THE VANISHING ON 7TH STREET Review

By Twitchfilm.net on September 15, 2010
Brad Anderson’s latest film is a bit of an odd beast. It is a creepy film that is not all that creepy while watching it. It is a apocalypse survivor film where no one is going to survive. The…
read on Twitchfilm.net

TIFF 2010: Images And Interview Footage For Brad Anderson's VANISHING ON 7TH STREET

By Twitchfilm.net on August 24, 2010
When a massive power blackout causes the population to inexplicably vanish, a small handful of survivors (Hayden Christensen, Thandie Newton, John Leguizamo) band together inside a desolate tavern, struggling
read on Twitchfilm.net

TIFF 2010: First Trailer For Brad Anderson's VANISHING ON 7TH STREET

By Twitchfilm.net on August 18, 2010
Hot on the heels of yesterday’s post about Brad Anderson’s Midnight Madness selected thriller Vanishing On 7th Street, today the first trailer was added to the film’s official website. It strikes me very
read on Twitchfilm.net

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