Missing Persons Unit (2007) User Reviews

what happened?

[deef81 · 5/10 · 19 January 2008]

I went to see this Belgian movie and was hoping for something in the line of "De Zaak Alzheimer", which I liked very much. It wasn't. The story-line wasn't very coherent. I was left with a lot of unanswered questions. E.g. why exactly was the girl kidnapped? What happened with the father of the missing girl? Why did the guy from the club drive into the canal? What was the connection between the guy from the club and the missing girl and why did he beat the father?

The cast was mixed quality. Some actors really performed very well, others were less than average.

Still it was a good effort and I hope to see some better developed story in the future.

CSI: Belgium

[Coventry · 6/10 · 11 November 2007]

The overall quality level of "Vermist" probably never at one point surpasses the quality level of any random episode in any of the CSI: Crime Scene Investigation franchises, but hey, it's a Belgian cinema blockbuster with a solid cast and a terrific director, so automatically I'm a little less harsh in my thoughts and in my review as well. And it honestly isn't a bad film at all, mind you, the story just doesn't contain any original ideas and you'll have to ignore a handful of obvious and truly massive holes in the plot. The title translates itself as "Missing" and that immediately gives you a pretty accurate description of the plot as well. The lead characters are all police inspectors working for the missing persons department, and they're investigating the alarming disappearance of a 16-year-old girl. The girl – Evi – comes from a respectable family, but she often revolted against her protective father and deliberately hung out with the wrong type of friends. The five-headed police force quickly discovers the girl was involved in prostitution, wild drug orgies and internet sex parties. The cops each have their own specialties, for example the male cop Nick Bulens is straightforward and physically menaces the suspects, and the young girl Milly is the forensics expert hesitant to exchange the lab for field duties. Some of the characters are poorly introduced and remain in the background, but that doesn't form a real problem, as "Vermist" actually is some sort of pilot episode for a TV-series with the same cast. The story can hardly be called original or overly spectacular, the plot-twists are incredibly implausible and the climax is comes too abrupt and is too silly. Yet, despite several shortcomings, "Vermist" is a reasonably suspenseful thriller with some powerful sequences and a compelling atmosphere throughout. Jan Verheyen's direction is very spirited and energetic. He's probably the only filmmaker in Belgium who's passionate enough about the darker genres in cinema to make a Belgian thriller. If it weren't for him, we wouldn't even see horror or cult movies on TV. He hosts a (terrific) show, called Cult Night, every Friday evening that brings lesser known and overlooked horror gems under the attention of fans.

It is not our job to solve crimes

[jayme-14 · 4/10 · 2 November 2007]

I was expecting more from this movie of Verheyen. The preview was very promising but the movie in its total was like a cheesy CSI episode to watch. The storyline was kind of predictable with not much twists and turns. Don't know if it is the dutch language or the way of filming but the whole movie didn't seem very believable to me.. One time they go bursting in with 20 men to catch a guy (sniper, gay looking row of police men included) but they don't find him. A few moments later they know where he is and send TWO women out to catch him.. err right. The acting was good but not outstanding, character development could have been better. Well anyways, overall I didn't find it a good movie but I don't have the feeling that my ticket was a total waste of money. I still like to support the Belgian film making industry and let's hope there will be better movies to come.