After reading some poor reviews about this film I felt compelled to come to imdb and write a review. I watched this film last night and thought one thing throughout: brilliant. I will not go into too much detail but the way the story unravels is rather unique and the acting is very strong all around. I thoroughly enjoyed the screenplay and cannot remember when a film caught me this off guard. I laughed and even got choked up at parts of this film. It just pulls you in from the get go. It was a great change of pace from the rest of the garbage being released these days.

If you are tired of all the blue screen, green screen super female hoopla. Watch this real movie that will give you a ride & make you have some conscious thoughts about life, love, happiness & tragedy. A well written & acted story from start to finish. No spoilers here. The editing was amazing as it would give you a piece that kept you wanting more faster. You have to watch, listen & give your attention to a deserving story movie! Relax, pause & reflect upon things to look forward to as you enjoy your 2 hours of escape into Sidney Hall's life. Enjoy

Even though Sidney Hall is not perfect, it's a compelling story with some nice writing, and in my opinion, superb acting by Lerman and Fanning. It has a weird way to tell the story, starts somewhere in the end and then jumps through timeline several times. But after all, it does make sense. In fact, I loved last 20 minutes of the movie. It gave all the answers, they made sense, and it was kinda sad.

I thought the first half was very slow and boring, but somehow still intriguing.

The ending completely stunned me though and completely changed my opinion of this film.

Shawn Christensen's the Vanishing of Sidney Hall while certainly not a masterpiece of film-making manages to captivate, perplex and leave the viewer with a lot to think about. The non-linearity of Christensen's direction is nicely implemented and clearly translates the script to the screen. The cinematography, I believe, is beautiful and produces a pleasing effect. As for the acting, it is above average but not inspiring enough to make the viewer jump out of his seat. Finally the overall delivery of the story is what make's most critics negatively view this film. It somewhat feels rushed, the climax is supposed to enrich us with drama and inject us with emotions about the characters but in fact fails to do so. I believe it should have revealed more drama during the progress of the story and not the finale. Still, this film does not deserve a low rating, it is not as bad as critics say.

I was blessed with the beautiful opportunity of watching this movie at a festival. I was dazzled by the flow of the story, the subjects, the intertwined destiny of the characters. From my point of opinion I advice you: don't belive that bunch of smug critics. They don't know what they are saying. They are stuck in a era of superheroes, superstars, supershine movies. Make your own destiny. Watch this movie. Watch a movie no matter what the critics say. Do not trust them. Anymore.

This character story isn't quite the mystery that I was expecting from the title. Sidney Hall, famous writer, willingly disappears, and it's a character piece about why and how. It's slow at times with some great dramatic beats, but overall, I found the whole thing to be a bit too sad to be enjoyable. Thoughtful filmmaking though.

Don't believe the critics.Infact this is one of the best movies I've ever seen.Even after the movie is over,it stays with you for a long time.U actually feel for the character and marvel the writing.I was shocked after reading the reviews on some sites.Totally deserves 9 stars.With amazing cast, plot twists, layered emotions and dialogues...it deserves more than 90% liking.If these things don't satisfy you...I honestly dont know what will...

When I found this movie on imdb I was astonished about how the imdb rating and the metascore could diverge so much. After watching it I have no clue why the critics are so harsh with it because despite one of the worst make up jobs for present bearded sidney hall this movie delivers on every level.

The actors are great. Logan Lermann basically plays his character from "perks of being a wallflower". It worked great there and so it does here. I really think that Elle Fanning is gonna be great star. Saw her recently in "Galveston" where she was outstanding and this movie is no different. Kyle Chandler does what he does best, he is playing Kyle Chandler.

The story never gets boring even though we are jumping between three different timelines and it all will come together. We feel for out protagonist and his deeply sad story. I can't praise this "small" movie enough and it is just sad that this will never work on a mass audience.

I love a good, deep, Indie film...and this one didnt disappoint! I was crying by the end. This movie had so many layers, that by the end, when all the layers were peeled back, you FELT the pain Sydney felt. I loved this movie.

What begins well and improves through the first three quarters of the film is worth your time... interesting characters, competent actors, engaging plot development, sporadic inspired writing, all point to a 7 or better rating... until the creative nose dive ruins it... you go from intrigued to disappointed to frustrated, to who cares... endings can be difficult, especially if beginnings are over promising... in truth, the 6 was charitable...

The story is gripping, the acting is flawless, the humour is funny, the ending is worth the wait, but... the transitions between the main character's life periods are confusing, especially between adolescence and young adulthood, if you are not paying close attention. In addition, you are not sure what the main character is feeling and you remain a spectator throughout. A good film though, I am glad to have seen it.

A slow heavy drama with confusing manner of jumping between events and tenses. Regarding the main character (Sidney), he has a cloudy personality. I felt that the film lasted 20 hours.

I don't know, why would anyone rate it below 9. Its an Excellent film, I would definitely recommend it. this is those kind of movies in which the story doesn't make complete sense until the ending - when it unravels itself and leaves you speechless. See the whole film and then write a review giving it a 10/10 cuz it surely deserves it.

Like the character Sidney Hall himself, there are few writers and directors as pure and honest as Shawn Christensen. Some familiar elements aside, this is easily one of the best films i've ever seen, and it does that so effortlessly by having a story to tell- and better yet- knowing how to tell it. I've been meaning to watch this film for a while now and I kept pushing it off, and I encourage anyone reading this to take me for the fool I am and do the opposite. The film was absolutely panned by critics and made little to nothing at the box office- grossing just a few dollars shy of $1 million. All of those signs often point to a film being a disaster, and to be honest, I haven't heard a single person mention this film even once. Almost as if it was fate, I found a copy at my local library and finally sat down to watch it- and it's honestly one of the best films i've ever seen. What critics don't get about many movies is a rawness of emotion. There are so many different elements to this film, but one consistent thing throughout its ability to delve into darker and more saddening themes. Some called it melodramatic, but there is a huge difference between this film and being melodramatic. SO MANY films i've watched recently have such a forced sense of emotion, and an even more forced take on it by the actors at hand. It may be saddening to watch, but the film itself is not over-emotional, in fact it's one of the most beautifully haunting stories i've ever seen in a film. What we lack in empathy for each other and for the mistakes we make I feel often tears us apart as a society, and this film just goes to show that many critics clearly have no idea what is truly real in the world of film. Everything about this film is magnificent, from the characters, the story, the actors, the cinematography, and the films fantastic score. Logan Lerman is the absolute perfect casting choice as out titular character, and his performance is surprisingly and brilliantly matched by actress Elle Fanning, and actors Kyle Chandler, Blake Jenner, and Yahya Abdul-Mateen II. It's so eloquently told without ever feeling overly pretentious or sentimental. Never has a film of this caliber been executed so well and been graced with a story so profound to tell. Shawn Christensen is a talent to look out for- and this film is his grand opum- and I hope both him and the film will finally earn the credit they deserve.

My Rating: 10/10.

This is a Spielberg movie (100% manipulative with the editing, score, acting). well maybe a bit darker, and better because of the way the story is told (non linear).

But the critics are hating on this movie, probably because the protagonist is a white male and nobody else in the movie matters that much and all of them just help to complete his story... They might be offended by that? Maybe? I don't get it.

It has all the cliché bits that you can expect if you see the trailer, but at the same time, a few great surprises. I really liked the acting too.

Empty hero worship of a character that achieves nothing on screen but is allegedly a supreme poet and deep author who shows no indication of any exceptional linguistics, vocabulary, interesting ideas, goals, or superlative life interests beyond generic teen dreams and "travel". Boring. A stereotypical flash in the pan tortured artist gone mad story.

The casting is very good but their performances of two dimensional archetypes are not particularly notable, certainly not enough to support nor carry the film.

The cinematography is generally unimaginative with a few exceptions that still fall flat, especially within the greater context. Some of the music is good and some not. The non-linear narrative tries to make a bad movie better but the editing can't save it.

Attempting to cultivate precious moments and sentimental mystique they try too hard with tired Hollywood stereotypes that wish they were half as creative or clever as their main character is supposed to be. It's as if square old advertising executives tried to write a quirky script to sell you on the fun of artsy teens suffering existential angst, forgetting to add anything quirky, artsy, or authentic.

I went in knowing nothing about it. I don't usually do reviews but felt compelled before even finishing. I regret watching this movie and was tricked by its undeservedly high rating and the "Drama" and "Mystery" labels. Drama requires conflict, especially between characters. The main character is conflicted with everything internal and external for undefined reasons generating no sympathy nor does it drive the choppy story. Mystery is missing in the obvious story telling

The only real mystery is how this got funded and produced. Like a high quality student film that desperately tries to be professional this movie is not worth watching as nothing stands out, even for a precious poetic moment.

The chicken said, "I crossed the street." I said, "Big deal."

So, if you're planning on watching this:

1. DON'T WATCH THE TRAILER. go in completely blind 2. be prepared cause it's a heavier watch than it seems (A24 needs to come up with less soul crushing stuff) 3. it's gonna get a lot of hate, probably will be called bad/predictable/mediocre at best by so many (didn't expect to adore it myself) but i loved it. lerman put some serious effort i didn't think he really had in him, and i liked the non linearity. maybe it's really just me being overly impressed but still please give this a chance.

The vanishing of sidney hall has a brilliant narrative. maybe it's because I don't watch alot such movies but I found the whole story of a lifetime thing very refreshing and original, or at least how it was made stood out. the idea of this movie has depth to it even though it's plagued by superficial dialogue at times.

logan lerman is brilliant in his portrayal of a depressed broken man. I know that mostly acting is considered reacting, but for a role like sidney hall u have to have stagnancy. u have to have a hollow resting face and logan pulls that off brilliantly. which is very hard to do, unless u r kristen stewart in which case it is both a blessing and a curse.

all in all it is a pretty good film. my only problem with it is the occasional hacky dialogue that don't do it's setting justice, and elle fanning. she may look the part but she can't act