At the age of eighteen, Sidney reads a story about masturbating in the sixth grade to his English class, to the chagrin of his teacher.

Sidney is subsequently approached by a bully, Brett Newport, who requests assistance with digging up a package they buried when they were small children.

Sidney declines and returns home to his abusive mother Velouria, his downtrodden disabled father Gerald, as well as a love letter from an unidentified "Melody".

At the age of twenty-four, Sidney is a successful, albeit alcoholic, writer with two books - Suburban Tragedy and State of Execution - atop The New York Times Best Seller list and his name in contention for a Pulitzer Prize.

At a book signing, Sidney meets an obsessed fan called Henry Crowe, who quotes Suburban Tragedy and speaks of knowing what must be done.

Shortly after, Crowe attempts murder and commits suicide, casting the book in a negative light, leading to a competitor on the list, Francis Bishop, to win the Pulitzer.

An apparent detective, The Searcher, traces his steps and interviews those who have known him, including two librarians, Duane and Johan, who forged identities for him.

After making his way to New Mexico and riding on trains with his dog, Sidney is arrested for having an open alcohol container in public.

Sidney's health takes a turn for the worse from the seizures and effects from alcoholism, putting him in a terminal state in the hospital.

Sidney summons Francis, to whom he gives all his writings and reveals the secrets about the inspiration for Suburban Tragedy, as well as Judge Newport's perversion.

[8] After the release of his feature length directorial debut in 2014, Before I Disappear, Christensen looked to Sidney Hall as his next project, which had not seen active development by Fox Searchlight Pictures in five years.

[1] Approximately a third of the film takes place in a suburban setting, inspired by Christensen's hometown of Wappingers Falls, New York.

Due to tonal needs, they decided to pursue a score complementary to Philip Glass's work- even including a single composed by him.

[15] Contrary to Christensen's previous works that featured somber soundtracks, Morze looked to give The Vanishing of Sidney Hall a generally more hopeful tone.

According to Morze, he committed more time to composing in August 2016 and continued to work alone on the score for the film until just prior to its release in January 2017.

The critics consensus reads: "There's no mystery here: The Vanishing of Sidney Hall may be nicely shot, but it is ultimately vapid and forgettable.

[22] Robert Abele of the Los Angeles Times called it a "risible indie drama" that "grates as both an agonized-artist pity party and a male fantasy of envied power".