The Vanishing is a 1993 American psychological thriller film directed by George Sluizer and starring Jeff Bridges, Kiefer Sutherland, Nancy Travis, and Sandra Bullock.

The film begins with chemistry professor Barney Cousins at his cabin, seemingly perfecting methods in which to conduct a successful kidnapping.

Jeff Harriman goes on vacation with his girlfriend Diane Shaver, who vanishes without a trace at a gas station.

Knowing this will upset Rita, he hides his project, buys a used military uniform at a surplus store and uses army reserve drills as a cover to continue his search.

Barney explains about his past: he broke his arm after jumping off a roof when he was little, and when he became a husband and father years later, he saved a girl from drowning.

In a short series of flashbacks, the build-up to the crime is shown: when Diane was in the gas station purchasing drinks for herself and Jeff, she asks Barney for a favor.

Then Jeff is taken to the gas station where Diane went missing, and is told that if he drinks a cup of coffee which has been drugged, he will discover her fate by experiencing it.

Rita calls home and listens to the changed outgoing message on the answering machine, which had incidentally recorded Barney's voice when he first confronted Jeff.

Not knowing the circumstances and on her way to meet a boy, Denise rides with Rita and gives her directions to her father's cabin.

Locations in town includes the Seattle Yacht Club, the Pioneer Square Station, the Sur La Table at the Pike Place Market & the Aloha Street Apartments.

The cabin by the lake at the beginning and for the final climax sequences at the end were filmed at Camp Omache near Monroe, Washington.

This remake received a mixed reaction and was frequently compared poorly to the original, particularly for its happy ending.

"[6] The Washington Post called it "a case study in how Hollywood can make a complete mess out of what was previously a marvelous film.

"[7] Roger Ebert wrote, "the movie methodically rewrote all that was good in the earlier version, turning its cold logic into trashy commercialism.

The consensus summarizes: "The Vanishing copies the form of its pulse-pounding predecessor but loses much of its thrilling function along the way, leaving American audiences with one more rote remake.