Today’s quick review: The Vanished. Park Jin-han (Kim Kang-woo) murders his wife Yoon Seol-hee (Kim Hee-ae), a domineering corporate executive, to protect his relationship with his girlfriend Hye-jin (Han Ji-an). That evening, Park receives a call from the police that Yoon’s body has gone missing from the morgue. As Park pieces together what happened, Detective Woo Jung-sik (Kim Sang-kyung) tries to prove that Park is the killer.
The Vanished is a Korean mystery about the missing body of a murder victim. Set in a morgue over the course of one long night, the movie follows Park and Woo as they match wits over Yoon’s suspicious death, her body’s disappearance, and the mounting evidence that points to Park. The Vanished is an intricately constructed mystery with a couple of good fake-outs, making it a fine pick for viewers in the mood for something dark.
The Vanished’s best feature is the scope of its mystery. What begins as a simple murder by a desperate husband soon unfolds into something more, as someone or something takes a posthumous interest in the case. The mystery is very open-ended, and the movie takes care to make sure there always a few viable hypotheses in play. At the same time, The Vanished saves a couple of key surprise for the end and wraps everything up in a tidy way.
The main drawback of The Vanished is that it never reaches the level of tension it wants to. The nature of the plot requires the movie to be careful about how much it reveals and when. The Vanished makes a valiant effort to ratchet up the tension, using theatrics around Yoon’s disappearance, Park’s flashes of guilt, and strange occurrences to keep things interesting. But there is still something missing, and the threats do not feel immediate.
The Vanished is a worthwhile watch for anyone looking for a peculiar mystery with plenty of twists and turns. The movie tosses out plenty of clues and then lets the audience piece them together while the characters follow their own leads. The result is a colorful mystery that still gives definite answers in the end. However, you may want to skip it if you are looking for more intense thrills and a greater sense of unease.
For a Korean movie about a murder victim coming back to life, try RV: Resurrected Victims. For an even more acrimonious thriller about the apparent murder of a manipulative wife, try Gone Girl.
[6.6 out of 10 on IMDB](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt6955298/). I give it a 6.5 to 7.0 for a carefully woven mystery missing a little bit of the intensity it needs.