Wait a minute. I know this movie. Seriously, I went into this prepared to post a trailer for a movie I’d never heard of called The Vanishing of Sidney Hall. Then I watched the trailer and realized that I knew it from last year’s Sundance when it was simply titled Sidney Hall. I also seem to recall it not having a lot of buzz, which is perhaps why the new title. Whatever the case, the film is about to hit DirecTV in a couple of weeks and it has a cast that could make it a popular pick.
Directed by Shawn Christensen, who previously helmed the Oscar-winning short Curfew (later expanded into the feature Before I Disappear), the film assembles Logan Lerman, Elle Fanning, Kyle Chandler, Margaret Qualley, Tim Blake Nelson, Michelle Monaghan, Blake Jenner, Yahya Abdul-Mateen, Alex Karpovsky, and Nathan Lane. Damn. A mystery of sorts, it tells the story of an accomplished author who finds fame only for it to destroy his life. Here’s the complete synopsis:
Sidney Hall harbors a precocious talent for writing. His classroom essays exhibit a danger that some find off-putting, though one teacher recognizes his talent and urges Sidney to pursue a writing career. Early success with his first novel makes Sidney a celebrity, though his dystopian observations about suburbia provoke tragic outcomes among some young readers, cloaking his name in scandal. Heightened scrutiny and expectations haunt him, as do dark secrets from his past that complicate his creativity, and interfere with his chances of finding love with a childhood sweetheart. When the disillusioned writer has all but disappeared from public life, a mysterious detective seeks the answer to his mystery.
Yeah, the title makes you think it’s going to be a horror but clearly that’s not the case. The Vanishing of Sidney Hall hits DirecTV on January 25th, followed by a theatrical run beginning March 2nd.
