I remember the first time I saw Niagara Falls. I was five years old, and as my father held me up to the rail at the observation deck, I was alternately mesmerized and horrified. Albert Shin's Disappearance at Clifton Hill brought me back to that moment. As a huge fan of Korean cinema, I had seen the acclaimed In Her Place, his award-winning sophomore effort. Co-writer/director Shin does not disappoint with his new feature, a quirky, Lynchesque thriller that will keep you guessing to the last scene.
Tuppence Middleton of Downton Abbey plays unreliable heroine Abby. Returning home after her mother's death to the bright lights and garish attractions of Niagara tourist trap Clifton Hill, Abby is haunted by the reoccurrence of a childhood memory of a boy's violent kidnapping near the river. Abby is at best psychologically troubled, at worst a pathological liar, and after failing to interest the local police in her story, she decides to investigate it herself, enlisting the help of local oddball scuba diver Walter Bell, played by legendary Canadian director David Cronenberg (Scanners, A History of Violence). Bell broadcasts a conspiracy theory podcast and has some serious accusations about local dynastic family the Lakes, that may or may not be related to Abby's mystery.
As Abby delves deeper into the seedy underworld of the offseason culture that surrounds the Falls, her pursuit of "the one-eyed boy" who may only exist in her mind leads to several shocking revelations. It is a testament to Middleton's fine acting that we still side with her troubled character. Is her fragile psychological condition related to the events she witnessed as a child? Did she make it all up?
The film is loaded with the fine performances needed to make its pulpy construct work. Cronenberg is fantastic as conspiracy podcaster Walter Bell, turning what could have been a cameo into one of the wackiest and intriguing characters I have encountered lately. When Abby's clues lead her to the Marvelous Moulin's, a sinister pair of tiger taming magicians played terrifically by Marie-Josee Croze and Paulino Nunes, their simple meeting in a diner becomes a tense scene that crackles with malice, but gets her no closer to the truth.
Korean-Canadian director Albert Shin spent time near Clifton Hill as a child. His parents owned a motel near there before he was born, and kept ties to the community. You can tell this film was personal to him. His and co-writer James Schultz's detailed, layered setting is an homage to Niagara history, with UFO-themed restaurants and mirrored fun houses and disappearing tigers. The cinematography is character-focused and spare, letting the Falls recede into the background where their beauty rumbles without overshadowing the film. The interesting score from Alex Sowinski and Leland Whitty is subtle when it needs to be.
Disappearance at Clifton Hill is an atmospheric, noir gem of an Indie mystery. It requires some suspension of disbelief to fully work, like the tricks of the Magical Moulins. If you allow your perception to drift, you will be rewarded with an enjoyable, unusual ride.
Patricia Pirillo