Meaning of the movie “Disappearance at Clifton Hill” and ending explained

Meaning of the movie “Disappearance at Clifton Hill” and ending explained Films

The film “Disappearance at Clifton Hill” directed by Albert Sheen is an example of fantastic neo-noir. Its viscous, attractive atmosphere excites attention. The film has a dull, dreary mood, a cloudy palette of tones against the backdrop of dark jazz music.

What is Disappearance at Clifton Hill about?

Six-year-old girl Abby, on a forest path between the road and the lake, sees a beaten and frightened boy with a gouged out eye. The girl is so small that she does not know how to react to this situation. Frightened, she just keeps silent. Soon strangers appear and push the boy into the trunk. Abby returns home but doesn’t tell anyone. Only a few years later she tells her sister about it.

Starring actresses Tuppence Middleton and Hannah Gross.

A quarter of a century has passed since the death of Abby’s mother. The girl returns to her hometown on Niagara. She recalls that once on a fishing trip, where they went with their family, many years ago, she witnessed a kidnapping.

Her sister Laura wants to sell their mother’s Rainbow Motel to local businessman Charlie Lake (Eric Johnson), whose family has owned the city for three generations. Meanwhile, Abby starts investigating a missing boy using modern and classic methods. She soon learns that the boy’s name was Alex Moulin. She reads newspaper publications at the local library, receives videos from Alex’s parents, interviews local theater magicians, enlists the help of local diving expert Walter (David Cronenberg).

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In “Disappearance at Clifton Hill” there is a nice soft picture with wonderful shots, after which one really wants to visit Niagara Falls. Participation in the film by David Cronenberg as a local historian and diver was a pleasant bonus for the audience.

This is perhaps the only interesting place in the film, but it relates to the plot only indirectly. But for a detective / thriller, an interesting plot is the basis.

The disadvantages of the film include the fact that the entire plot could fit in 15 minutes, but it is so stretched that interest in the story is involuntarily lost, the audience has to mentally assemble puzzles from the names of the characters, the motives of their actions.

Definitely, you need to love Canadian cinema in order to withstand it.

The meaning of the movie “Disappearance at Clifton Hill”

It is worth noting the skill of director Albert Sheen for his excellent work, but in the second half of the film comes the realization that the captivating atmosphere suddenly ceases to excite. The plot and characters become pale. The detective part, usually intended to arouse interest in the audience, like the story itself, loses richness of content and clarity. The whole plot, intrigue and mystery seem to be in a fog, as if the director needed these components only to complement the visual. It’s boring to watch how Abby talks frowningly from one suspect to another. She gets to the bottom of the truth without excitement: it is absent both in the behavior of the heroine and in the storylines themselves. Yes, and the entire detective component is too shaded in time, but lacks the necessary information volume.

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And even after revealing all the cards, no specifics arise: to whom and why the boy once did not please. That is, there is some clarity, but I don’t want to analyze it. There is a feeling that even the director is not interested. The same applies to the characters who appear as a secondary background: they seem to be there, but they are nothing. Even if David Cronenberg had not starred in the film, it would hardly have been possible to revive the plot.

After an interesting start and a chic compilation for neo-noir, bewilderment arises. All these components cease to work adequately due to the lack of a high-quality script, and the characters are some kind of cardboard.

Movie ending explanation

While investigating the disappearance of Alex Moulin, Abby meets many colorful characters, chief among them conspiracy theorist Walter Bell (David Cronenberg). He helps Abby piece together some of the events surrounding Alex’s disappearance. Abby is visited by a terrible guess that Alex was kidnapped and killed by his own parents.

Alex’s parents are magicians whose pet is the tiger Moulin. They deny accusations that they killed their son. They speculate that Alex was kidnapped by their assistant, Beverly Mole, after he was stabbed by a tiger. They say the boy was killed by Charles Lake II, a wealthy businessman. And his son, Charles Lake III, is interested in buying Abby’s mother’s motel.

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The police do not believe Abby’s version after her feigning retrograde amnesia. Then the girl lived in Arizona. Therefore, Abby completely takes over the investigation and tracks down Beverly Mole. Beverly is betrayed by her husband Jerry. Beverly is arrested, charged with becoming a mercenary paid off by Charles Lake II to kill Alex.

The Moulins and Charles Lake III are charged with complicity. The latter claims that he did not harm the boy, but helped him.

After a news report confirming Beverly Mole’s arrest, Abby returns to work at the motel. From that moment on, the events of the film completely change their course, because a one-eyed man enters the room. This is Alex Moulin, who changed his name to Al Mullen. He tells Abby that Charlie Lake doesn’t lie about saving him and never hurt him.

Alex lived in Vancouver, but returned to Niagara Falls because he found out about Charlie’s arrest and decided to help him keep his good name.

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