[Review] Lifetime Movie “Vanished: Searching for My Sister” With Tatyana Ali (2.5/5 Stars)
Vanished: Searching for My Sister is a Lifetime original movie written by Christina Welsh, produced by Big Dreams Entertainment and Leslie Greif, and directed by Tim Woodward Jr. The storyline revolves around twins Jada and Kayla (both played by Tatyana Ali) trying to manage life after losing their parents when they were younger. Jada became the mild-mannered sister with an office job, a child, and a boyfriend while Kayla became the wild one who gets lost in making bad decisions. Recently divorced from her husband Warren (Justin Bruening), Kayla asks Jada to watch her daughter while she sets up her new apartment. After a few days with no word from Kayla, Jada begins to worry and reports her sister missing. With no leads and the police investigation at a standstill, Jada takes matters into her own hands. By disguising herself as her sister and hopeful to find out what happened, Jada gets pulled into Kayla’s wild world of partying, drugs, and deceit in order to learn the shocking truth. (Watch the trailer below)
Vanished: Searching for My Sister also stars Jasmine Guy, Carolyn Hennesy, and Anthony “Treach” Criss. The movie premieres on Lifetime on Saturday, January 22nd at 8p/7c.
Review
Vanished: Searching for My Sister was a predictable movie. Filled with drama, mystery, and murder, the movie is categorized as a mystery and thriller, but there was no thrill whatsoever. The storyline showed the life of a single mother escaping her old life but running into the unfortunate outcome of domestic violence. With the characters being twins, the writers used Tatyana Ali for Jada and Kayla allowing her to do the switch-a-roo and making Jada disguise herself as her sister. The twin characters had no originality because other characters could sense that Jada was not the person she said she was based on her actions, fashion, and the way she talked. There was no stark difference between the two characters except hairstyle and piercings.
In conclusion, the acting was mediocre and the movie was weak, transparent, and predictable. The story brought nothing challenging to the imagination. If you’re looking for a movie with a typical mystery and thriller story with no creative direction, then this is the movie for you. The rating I give Vanished: Searching for My Sister is 2.5 stars. 