The Vanishing (Dutch: Spoorloos, literally: "Traceless" or "Without a Trace") is a 1988 psychological thriller film directed by George Sluizer, adapted from the novella The Golden Egg (1984) by Tim Krabbé.

When his initial attempts at abduction fail, he poses as an injured motorist in need of assistance and goes to the rest area out of town, where he will not be recognised.

After saving a young girl from drowning, he resolved to commit the worst crime he could imagine in order to test if he was worthy of his daughter's admiration; in his view, one can only be a truly good person if one is capable of doing something evil, but chooses not to do it.

A newspaper sitting in his car features a headline about the double disappearance of Saskia and Rex, with their portraits in two egg-shaped ovals.

[11] The two worked on a third draft together, and Sluizer stated they began to have what he described as a "difference of opinion" over what should happen in the film, the placing of scenes, and how to dramatically tell the story.

[14] A casting agent suggested Sluizer see Johanna ter Steege, who was in a student play, for the role of Saskia Wagter.

[19] After thinking about other French actors who could play the part, Sluizer thought of Bernard-Pierre Donnadieu, who had a small role in his film Twice a Woman (1979).

[20] Sluizer discovered Donnadieu had worked in television and had leading roles in films since appearing in Twice a Woman and got him signed to play Raymond.

[30] Criterion released the film on Blu-ray and DVD on 28 October 2014, this time with the original French trailer, interviews with Sluizer and Johanna ter Steege, and an essay by Scott Foundas as supplements.

The site's critics consensus reads, "A clinical, maddening descent into the mind of a serial killer and a slowly unraveling hero, culminating with one of the scariest endings of all time.

[37] Desson Howe of The Washington Post praised the film's avoidance of cliches, noting that it is "refreshingly free of manipulative scenes involving running bath water, jagged-edge cutlery and bunnies in the saucepan".

[38] Howe also made note of the unusual move of revealing the kidnapper immediately and spending significant time learning about him.

[38] Roger Ebert wrote in the Chicago Sun Times: "One of the most intriguing things about The Vanishing is the film's unusual structure, which builds suspense even while it seems to be telling us almost everything we want to know.

[40] "Cadd" of Variety declared the film "the ultimate tribute to Alfred Hitchcock, daring to offer up an ending that goes beyond even the master's memorable climaxes".

[41] Dave Kehr, writing in the Chicago Tribune, said "It's a film that functions on curiosity rather than real interest ... yet in the end punishes the audience for wanting to have its questions answered.