“The Vanishing” sees a chemistry teacher, Barney Cousins (Jeff Bridges) planning to abduct a woman. He finds to his dismay that even with methodical planning and countless trial runs, Barney always manages to mess things up. Then one night a woman Diane Shaver (Sandra Bullock) who is passing through with her boyfriend Jeff Harriman (Kiefer Sutherland) becomes an unwitting and easy target for Barney. Now Jeff has to search for Diane as Barney sits back and watches as he takes notes on the actions of Jeff. With each wrong turn, Jeff begins to loose his mind as he begins grasping at straws and realizes he is being manipulated in a sadistic experiment.