Clifton Hill was a small town in New Jersey that went missing in 1978. The town’s only inhabitant, Mrs. Kapp, vanished after leaving her home to go to the grocery store. No one has ever been able to find out what happened to Mrs. Kapp or why she disappeared. Some believe that she may have been kidnapped by someone and taken to a remote location where she was held against her will. Others believe that Mrs. Kapp may have simply gone away for good and never returned home. There are many theories about what happened at the end of Clifton Hill’s disappearance, but no one knows for sure what happened to Mrs. Kapp or why she vanished. It is still an open question today whether or not Mrs. Kapp was kidnapped and taken somewhere unknown, or if she simply left for good and never returned home.
Summary of the Plot
Abby, as a child, witnesses the kidnapping of a boy. Twenty-five years later we see her riding a bus back home to her hometown to complete a deal she made with her mother. She has trouble trusting her sister, Laure.
Abby spots the car she saw years ago while going through old photos. Abby’s memories are triggered and she begins to investigate the kidnappings and murders that took place at that time. Walter, a local conspiracy podcaster and her sister, help her to make sense of all the details she uncovers. Tensions can also result from her behavior. Abby is a pathological lie.
The end of Disappearance at Clifton Hill
Abby becomes obsessed shortly after returning to her motel mother. She remembers seeing a boy who had one eye be beaten and taken hostage by two strangers. She discovers that the boy was Alex Moulin. He was the son and daughter of the Magnificent Moulins who were well-known performers at Niagara Falls. He was allegedly killed by his husband and wife in a magic act. His body was never found.
Walter Bell (David Cronenberg), a local eccentric podcaster, has other theories. He also has a legendary family. He believes Charles Lake II, a wealthy real-estate tycoon who controlled most of the town’s assets, is responsible. Bell believes the crime was necessary in order to cover up sexual abuse against Alex by Charles Lake III’s son ( Eric Johnson, American Gods). Lake III is simultaneously looking to purchase Abby’s motel. He does a great job.
Abby learns in Disappearance on Clifton Hill that the kidnappers are Bev and Gerry Mole. They were animal trainers for Moulins. She believes Lake II hired them as kidnappers to kidnap Alex, and then feed him to the Moulin’s Tigers. Gerry confessed to Alex’s injury from one of the Moulin’s tigers and the kidnapping. Although evidence of their crimes was found during a police raid, Alex’s remains have not been located. Abby was confronted by the Moulins and they behaved very strangely.
Both parents acted as though they loved their son, and treated him like a commodity. Poor Alex was abused by his parents, a young man who assaulted him sexually, and a married couple who murdered him. This is all questioned when Abby, a mysterious man wearing an eye patch, checks in to the hotel.
Abby is asked by the man if he recognizes her. He may also have seen her on the road that day. He could also have been watching the investigation from a safe distance, and may have known the significance of Abby’s role. He looks at the Charlie picture in the newspaper detailing the arrests and Moulins for Charlie Lake III and Alex’s death. He looks at Abby, and says that Charlie was a good person. Further, he said that Charlie never hurt Alex and saved him.
This man’s appearance could indicate that Charlie saved Alex and helped him escape. Although the mysterious man is not able to confirm his identity, his knowledge of Lake III and his eye patch suggest that he has more information than he should.
Most likely, Lake III tried and helped Alex after his parents had abused him. Charlie’s father wanted him to die. However, we don’t know if Charlie’s father was involved. The Lakes would not be involved if the sexual abuse had never occurred. Lake II could have believed his son was in an inappropriate relationship with Alex because of his desire to help Alex. This mysterious man makes it seem that Alex survived and was saved from death by Charlie Lake III. We will never know where he is now.
Shin’s movie is enough to entice us in
The movie “Girl Who Doesn’t Have Her Life Together” features Abby (played by Tuppence Midton). She is inspired by her mother’s passing to return home to her hometown, outside of Niagara Falls, where she witnessed a brutal kidnapping as a child. Sibling Who Does have Her Life Together (Laure, played by Hannah Gross of Mindhunter) has a complicated relationship with her sister and isn’t eager to welcome her back. Abbey is shocked to discover that Charlie Lake (small-town evil rich bigwig) bought her mother’s motel.
She teams up with Walter (played by David Cronenberg), to solve the decades-old mystery. She eventually solves it. But she might not. The film is filled with myth and illusion on both a literal as well as metaphoric level.
Walter, a Falls diver and podcast host, helps Abby to discover that Alex Moulin (Colin McLeod) was the abductor she witnessed. He is the child of two local magicians, The Magnificent Moulins. Although the body of the boy was not found after his disappearance, it is believed that he died from suicide and fell into the local gorge. As the plot thickens, Abby (and the viewers) jump in with both their feet.
Disappearance at Clifton Hill is a twist that comes in waves
Abby follows a trail that “Twin Peaks”-meets Serial clues to discover and convince the police that Lake abused the boy. She then pays his parents and their Tiger tamer to get rid (which they do by giving him to their tiger). Alex is brought to justice and Abby keeps her motel. As the final scene shows, she might have misunderstood a few things.
Abby is seen checking in Aaron Poole, a guest who has a patch on one eye just like the boy she saw from afar. Although the film doesn’t confirm that Alex Moulin is the man, it is clear we are supposed to believe that he is. He casually points out the newspaper on his desk that has a story about Lake’s arrest and tells her “you know…he isn’t lying.” He responds, “no…he saved my life.”
Shin’s twist seems to be a simple “gotcha”, moment that complicates our feelings about the protagonist whose victory was just seconds before. This, however, isn’t what it seems like, just as everything else in “Disappearance at Clifton Hill.”
Shin’s final note is a doozy
We see Abby lying all the time, as we are repeatedly shown throughout the film. Before her return, Abby spent many years in Arizona ripping off a local social worker. Abby’s “cycle”, as her sister calls it, cost Abby her mother dearly. She had to sell her motel. This is what the audience discovers very late in the story. Abby’s apparent uncovering of truth feels like redemption.
After Abby’s initial dismay at the news that she had just sent an innocent man into prison, we watch Abby look in the mirror. This is a tangible representation of the truth twice removed. It’s a subtle, blink-and-you’ll-miss-it moment, but her frown begins to curl into a smile as she — and the viewers — realize she’s relieved, even happy, to be a part of a lie. An old song suddenly croons, from someplace unseen, “sometimes I get so lonely, other times, I feel so blue
Abby, a journalism student, is not interested in finding the truth. She wanted to explore a world of possible truths and illusions to find the truth that would make her compelled to lie on a pathological basis. Throughout the film, that’s exactly what she does and what the viewer does along with her. This is one of many ways Albert Shin’s commentary on today’s crime-obsessed society is made known. He doesn’t show much, but he shows a lot.
Partly, Disappearance on Clifton Hill is an indictment
The internet is only briefly mentioned in Walter’s library computer. We never see Walter listening to the podcast on his device. Abby records her meeting in the Magnificent Moulins using an old-school tape recorder and not a smartphone. In fact, the film doesn’t mention Abby being seven years old in 1994. The motel aesthetic is somewhere between the late 60s and early 70s. Abby’s VHS tapes that she watches while on her quest for answers are so ’80s that they would look great on “Stranger Things.” Abby also meets people at mid-century modern diners. Abby’s sister works as security at a casino. However, even her eye in the sky cameras and TVs feel a bit out of date.
Shin’s film leaves out all things high-tech and ultra-modern. This is Shin’s way of drawing our attention to them, and suggesting that our desire for simpler times is misplaced. Despite the fact that we have a lot of information at our fingertips, including a multitude of true crime series and documentaries, half-truths and illusions are spreading faster than ever. However, society has always been hungry for juicy headlines. Shin also tricks us into sympathizing and rooting for an unreliable protagonist.
Shin makes it impossible to engage in exceptionalism. The film makes it clear that we are no better than Abby and that is about all we know.
The True Story
Albert Shin’s childhood memories are the basis of the film. He was a member of the family that owned the Niagara Gateway Motel in Clifton Hill. He recalls a possible abduction at the Niagara River. Albert, like Abby was young. Albert vividly recalls a man holding a boy in his arms and throwing him into his car trunk. He then beat the boy with a tire iron.
Albert also recalls the man shouting at the boy to stop screaming. He isn’t sure it happened, because it has been so many years. This indecision was the genesis of the film, which centered on a child with possibly faulty memories and a tendency to dishonesty.
Alex was killed by Charlie?
The story of “Disappearance on Clifton Hill” begins with a kidnapping. Abby is very limited in her view of Alex’s disappearance by strangers. Abby has no idea who the boy is, what he’s doing, why he’s being kidnapped and where he will end up. Twenty-five years later, she returns to the case with suspicions that the boy may be dead. She confirms her suspicions when she identifies the boy as Alex, who died at the same time that she witnessed his abduction.
The murder of a child is the most sinister act. Abby is overwhelmed with questions when she begins her investigation. These questions eventually lead to the question, “Why would someone kill a boy?” What did he know about the boy? What was he thinking? He had no good reason for all of this, and it would not be possible to justify making it more sinister. It would be a terrible act if any person were involved.
What could be gained from the disappearance or death of a child? Walter and Abby believe so, as does the audience. This is exactly where the problem begins. Our judgment becomes skewed when we lose our objectivity and are unable to see the facts logically. Walter is an example. Since the beginning, he had been biased towards Charlie and his family. He doesn’t think about it when Abby informs him Alex was kidnapped by his parents. Instead of questioning his beliefs and evaluating whether he was wrong, he blames Abby because she made a business deal for him with Charlie. He believes his own version of truth and would not have it any other.
His misguided confidence seeps into Abby who, despite being very close to the truth finds some reason to link Charlie to it. She too believes her version of the truth. But the last scene proves that she is wrong. After all, Charlie didn’t actually kill Alex.
Is Alex Still Alive?
Alex was the focal point of Abby’s investigation. Alex was the focal point of Abby’s investigation. She had followed the leads to prove his murder. She realized that she was wrong about many things and that her false leads had led to her misinterpretation of the facts. Alex is still alive.
This is what really happened. The Moulins tried pulling their son into the family business. He had to face the tiger and pass it, which he wasn’t ready for. Alex was attacked by the tiger and lost one eye. He tried to flee the scene, knowing his parents would soon throw him in front a tiger. Bev Moulins and her husband were sent by the Moulins to bring back Alex. The couple did not know that Bev had taken photos of Alex’s injuries. They paid her the money that was her ticket to this life, which she blackmailed.
Abby saw Alex running away from his parents during the kidnapping. As was agreed, Bev and her husband abandoned him at the farm. Charlie got there before the Moulins could. To get his parents and the cops off his trail, he helped Alex escape. He could have helped Alex financially but he wasn’t able to do so because of something sexual between them. He had really taken Alex under his wing and was now deeply attached to him.
Charlie helped the boy create a safer and more secure life far away from Niagara Falls. He never returned to the boy’s hometown, not after he learned that the man who saved him had been arrested for his murder. The case is solved when he returns to the town to tell all.
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Is There a Disappearance at Clifton Hill 2
There is no progress on the sequel to this crime thriller as of now. It was written by James Schultz, Albert Shin and directed by Albert Shin. However, the film has not been approved despite strong critic reviews. Shin and Schultz did not publicly declare their interest in a sequel. All of that could change with the recent revival on Netflix. It’s currently in the Top 10, so anything is possible. Ask Manifest how he was saved from the garbage heap by unbelievable numbers. You can now watch Disappearance on Clifton Hill right now on Netflix.
