When Abby (Tuppence Middleton) returns to her hometown of Niagara Falls after her mother dies, she becomes obsessed with a fragmented memory from her childhood, a kidnapping she believes she was witness to. She is reunited with her estranged younger sister, Laure (Hannah Gross), and they attempt to settle their mother's estate involving the sale of the family motel, but Abby's compulsive desire to reconcile her past grows increasingly out of control. Albert Shin's latest is a... (Full plot summary below)
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When Abby (Tuppence Middleton) returns to her hometown of Niagara Falls after her mother dies, she becomes obsessed with a fragmented memory from her childhood, a kidnapping she believes she was witness to. She is reunited with her estranged younger sister, Laure (Hannah Gross), and they attempt to settle their mother's estate involving the sale of the family motel, but Abby's compulsive desire to reconcile her past grows increasingly out of control. Albert Shin's latest is an intense and taut psychological thriller that exposes the seedy underbelly of structural systems through the point of view of its dynamic female protagonists. Middleton delivers a stellar and complex performance as a woman obsessed with her troubled past while trying to uncover a crime to which she's convinced she was an accomplice. Shin and co-writer James Schultz craft a sharp, suspenseful drama, equipped with twists and turns, culminating with a climax that will leave you thinking for days.
Leave your thoughts about Disappearance at Clifton Hill.
| The Globe and Mail (Toronto)Barry HertzClifton Hill becomes just as thrilling and disturbing as its titular strip of haunted houses and fading-fast motels. |
| Original-CinLinda BarnardMiddleton plays Abby with a pleasing note of vulnerability that is often supplanted by a nagging anticipation she’ll tip off the edge. She and Gross have smooth chemistry as estranged sisters. |
| Los Angeles TimesNoel MurrayWhere Disappearance at Clifton Hill really excels is in exploring the visual and sonic textures of a decaying resort, and in hailing the plucky resourcefulness of a broken woman, trying to piece her memories — and maybe herself — back together. |
| The Film StageChristopher SchobertThis is a standard unsolved mystery drama, the type that would be quite at home on a small-screen police procedural. The setting certainly adds to its interest, but even when the boy’s fate is (seemingly) explained, it is difficult to care. |
| The Hollywood ReporterSheri LindenBut for all its vividly detailed eccentricity, the movie, like Abby, connects the dots rather too easily. As Clifton Hill digs deeper into exceedingly sordid stuff, it doesn't dish up the kind of aha moments or chilling frissons that would lift the story from clever contrivance — until a final, delicious twist pulls the rug out from under this richly atmospheric but not always convincing tale. |
| The New York TimesGlenn KennyFor patient or forgiving fans of idiosyncratic thrillers, “Disappearance” may deliver satisfactory spills and chills. |
| Slant MagazineChuck BowenWhat distinguishes the film from much of its ilk is Albert Shin’s ongoing taste for peculiar and unsettling details. |
| VarietyScott TobiasShin’s film gets tangled up in its own web. ... His film leaves a vivid impression without quite leaving a mark. |
| The PlaylistAndrew BundyTonally confusing ... For all its strange and specific flavor, "Clifton Hill" is too tame and tepid to truly work as weird noir. |
| Movie NationRoger MooreA muddled mystery-thriller that’s something of a wash, one that director-turned-actor David Cronenberg all but steals. |
