How do you make a movie title more interesting? Add the word “vanishing.” Last year at the Sundance Film Festival, you probably forgot that a movie called “Sidney Hall” premiered. Despite a pretty solid ensemble, reception was pretty muted, and the picture was forgotten. Well, A24 thinks they can find an audience for it with a snappier title — “The Vanishing Of Sidney Hall” (which makes it sound like a horror movie) — and the first trailer is here.
Starring Logan Lerman, Elle Fanning, Kyle Chandler, Michelle Monaghan, Nathan Lane, and Margaret Qualley, the drama follows a young man who becomes a famous novelist, which leads to tragic consequences. Here’s the synopsis from Sundance:
Sidney Hall harbors a precocious talent for writing. His classroom essays exhibit a danger that some find off-putting, though one teacher recognizes his talent and urges Sidney to pursue a writing career. Early success with his first novel makes Sidney a celebrity, though his dystopian observations about suburbia provoke tragic outcomes among some young readers, cloaking his name in scandal. Heightened scrutiny and expectations haunt him, as do dark secrets from his past that complicate his creativity, and interfere with his chances of finding love with a childhood sweetheart. When the disillusioned writer has all but disappeared from public life, a mysterious detective seeks the answer to his mystery.
Directed by Shawn Christensen, “The Vanishing Of Sidney Hall” will be released exclusively on DIRECTV on January 25th and will be in theaters on March 2nd from A24.