The Missing Person

The atmosphere of the film is similar to the Ellery Queen detective stories of yesteryear, but the result is not nearly as good.

There's a pretty good film if you give writer-director Noah Buschel a chance. The 31-year-old crafts a convincing noir tale, with a sense of realism that makes the experience pleasingly voyeuristic.

The real mystery here is how writer-director Noah Buschel talked recent supporting Oscar nominees Michael Shannon and Amy Ryan into doing this movie.

A knottily plotted detective yarn, more film blanc than noir, it features... Michael Shannon as a 1940s-style detective whose unintentional specialty is finding psychological damage all around him.