Netflix's Popular New Crime Thriller Is A Great Reminder To Watch Jake Gyllenhaal's $122M Hit From 11 Years Ago

Summary "Vanished into the Night" on Netflix is a thriller similar to "Prisoners" starring Jake Gyllenhaal.

Both films center on the theme of missing children, but "Prisoners" has a better Rotten Tomatoes score.

"Prisoners" directed by Denis Villeneuve stars Gyllenhaal as Detective Loki and is available for purchase on various platforms.

Netflix's Vanished into the Night is rising to the top of the streaming service's charts shortly following its premiere, and the film's spike in popularity raises memories of a Jake Gyllenhaal movie from 13 years ago that contains similar themes. The 2024 Italian thriller film, directed by Renato De Maria and written by Francesca Marciano and Luca Infascelli, chronicles the disappearance of a soon-to-be-divorced couple's two young children while they were staying with their father. Shortly after they go missing, the couple receives a menacing phone call from a man demanding 150,000 euros in exchange for the kids.

The cast of Vanished into the Night includes Riccardo Scamarcio as Pietro La Torre, Annabelle Wallis as Elena Walgren, Massimiliano Gallo as Nicola, Gaia Coletti as Bianca, and Lorenzo Ferrante as Giovanni. Netflix's popular Italian movie is based on Patxi Amezcua and Alejo Flah's Argentine-Spanish film 7th Floor (Séptimo), and is, thankfully, not inspired by a true story. Vanished into the Night is one of many crime thrillers following a kidnapping and a ransom, but its story is quite similar to a critically acclaimed movie starring Gyllenhaal.

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Jake Gyllenhaal's Prisoners Is Another Crime Thriller About Families Searching For Their Missing Kids

Prisoners Was Released On September 20, 2013

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Prisoners, directed by Denis Villeneuve, was released in 2013 and stars Jake Gyllenhaal as Detective Loki, the law enforcement officer assigned to the case of two missing girls. Similar to Vanished into the Night, Villeneuve's thriller features dark themes and shocking twists all while showcasing the lengths parents will go to protect their children. Of course, the two stories aren't identical, but if someone enjoyed Vanished into the Night, they should watch Prisoners because of their related themes and premises.

Prisoners is available to rent or buy on Amazon Prime Video, YouTube, Google Play, Apple TV, or Fandango.

Aside from Gyllenhaal, the cast of Prisoners consists of many other notable actors, including Hugh Jackman, Viola Davis, Melissa Leo, Terrence Howard, and Maria Bello. They all came together to make a captivating kidnapping thriller movie that will keep viewers on the edge of their seats until the very last minutes, just like Vanished into the Night. However, the two films diverge in one significant way.

Related Prisoners: Why The Alternate Ending Wasn’t Right For The Film The alternate ending for Denis Villeneuve's Prisoners would have undermined the film's "show, don't tell" style that defined the mystery thriller.

How Vanished Into The Night's Reviews Compare To Prisoners

Prisoners' Rotten Tomatoes Score Is Much Better

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Whereas critics gave Prisoners positive reviews and high praise, the same cannot be said for Vanished into the Night. Jake Gyllenhaal's 2013 thriller has an 81 percent Tomatometer score on Rotten Tomatoes, while the 2024 Netflix film has a 40 percent score. Prisoners was nominated for Best Cinematography at the Oscars and received several other awards, which is not the case for Renato de Maria's Italian movie. Despite the negative reviews, Vanished into the Night is still worth watching, as is Prisoners, for its suspense, high entertainment value, and shocking ending.

Movie Release Date Tomatometer Audience Score Prisoners September 20, 2013 81% 87% Vanished into the Night July 11, 2024 40% 14%

Vanished Into The Night's Kidnapper Reveal Is Way More Shocking Than Prisoners

The 2024 Netflix Film Has A Leg Up On The Jake Gyllenhaal Movie

Even though critics seemingly disliked Vanished into the Night and highly praised Prisoners, the 2024 Italian thriller film still does one thing significantly better than the 2013 movie did. Both features revolve around a mystery concerning parents trying to locate their missing children, and the two projects' stories lead up to a kidnapper reveal. The ending of Prisoners is intense and surprising in its own right. However, Vanished into the Night's conclusion is much more shocking than the Jake Gyllenhaal film's finale. Without giving too many spoilers away, Vanished into the Night ends with a twist that not many will see coming.

When [comparing Prisoners] to Vanished into the Night, the Netflix film's finale holds up much better.

The Netflix thriller will keep audiences wondering what is happening until the very end, and the final scene will leave them questioning everything that they thought they knew about the story and kidnapping. So, even if the 2024 movie Vanished into the Night has not received as good reviews as Prisoners, its ending is worth the watch. But that is not to say that Denis Villeneuve's Prisoners does not contain any twists and turns because it does. However, when compared to Vanished into the Night, the Netflix film's finale holds up much better.

Related Why Jake Gyllenhaal Twitches In Prisoners Detective Loki's twitching is one of the most iconic parts of Jake Gyllenhaal's performance in Prisoners, and the actor has explained why he does it.

Prisoners Features One Of The Most Haunting Scenes Of Hugh Jackman's Career

The Scene Between Hugh Jackman & Paul Dano Is Unforgettable

Vanished into the Night has a killer ending, but Prisoners contains one of the best scenes of Hugh Jackman's acting career to date. Jackman stars as Keller Dover, the father of one of the girls who goes missing on one fateful Thanksgiving night. Jake Gyllenhaal's Detective Loki arrests a suspect — Alex Jones, played by Paul Dano — but determines that Alex could not have kidnapped the young girls due to his low IQ and lack of evidence. Nevertheless, Jackman's Keller is convinced that Alex took his daughter and is determined to prove his guilt.

Hugh Jackman was nominated for a Best Actor Oscar in 2013 for his performance as Jean Valjean in Les Misérables but lost to Daniel Day-Lewis, who won for his role as Abraham Lincoln in Lincoln.

When Alex is released from police custody, Keller kidnaps him. He interrogates and tortures him, trying to make him confess. In one scene, Keller and the father of the other missing girl, Franklin Birch (played by Terrence Howard), hold Alex up and Jackman's character threatens him with a hammer. It's a haunting scene that will stick with viewers long after finishing the film. Consequently, the 2013 thriller movie Prisoners is one of Jackman's most underrated roles, and the actor should receive more praise for his performance as a tormented and vengeful father.