Vanished Into the Night

Pietro Torre (Riccardo Scamarcio) and Elena Walgren (Annabelle Wallis) are in the process of seemingly going through an amicable divorce and custody battle. As she's a psychotherapist who doesn't have an Italian level high enough to work in Bari, and she is a full-time mother to Bianca (Gaia Coletti) and Giovanni (Lorenzo Ferrante). Elena wants custody of the kids and wants to take them with her to New York. In their divorce negotiations, both bring up major problems, Pietro with gambling debt and Elena with prescription medication abuse. Pietro also borrowed a large amount of money to purchase a farm and a country house, which Elena also wanted, but due to his gambling losses, that loan is now also due. Pietro takes the children for the weekend while Elena is meant to be away. The exes seem to be amicable, but they have some issues. He takes them on his boat to the island where Pietro has a country house, and they run into Nicola (Massimiliano Gallo), who he's uncomfortable his kids wanting to interact with. Nicola has a much bigger and fancier boat than Pietro, which the kids like. Arriving to his country house, Pietro comes face-to-face with his creditor Santo (Giandomenico Cupaiuolo). As he owes 250,000 euros, he is asked to sign over the country house property in lieu of the payment, but Pietro refuses and asks for more time. That evening, after he'd put them to sleep in a far-off room, Giovanni comes looking for him as he fears monsters. After Pietro gets him back to sleep, he finishes watching the football match, then he discovers the kids are gone. Pietro searches all over the property and finds no sign of them. Elena calls as promised to say goodnight to the kids, so Pietro has to tell her they've disappeared. A ransom call comes, demanding 150,000 euros. Pietro cannot figure out who is doing this to him. Elena demands to have the children back. Pietro calls Santo, but the call goes to voicemail. Elena has arrived, and she insists he ask Nico for help, as he is Pietro's wealthy childhood friend. Nico will give him the money by the morning only if Pietro goes in his boat to Greece and complete a transaction for him. Nico wants Pietro to take delivery of a drug package and when Pietro confirms to Nico, he will pay the delivery guys in Crypto currency. Pietro has to use his boat for the job. Pietro takes his boat at night to a small island's restaurant, where he must wait until he gets approached. He stays the whole evening shift until finally he's given a note to head back. Pietro tries to call Elena from a stranger's phone, but it goes to voicemail. As Pietro leaves, two men on jet skis board his boat with a Duffle bag. After he orally confirms receipt of the bag, the nervous armed men wave their guns in his face until the Crypto currency payment is completed by Nico. On his return to Italy, Pietro is forced to seek help from the coast guard after his engine catches fire. He has to turn on his boat GPS (which Nico had asked him to turn off) and he calls the coast guard on the radio. Pietro has to wait a little while before the coast guard arrives. He hides the Duffle bag before they board. They get the motor running, but as it isn't fully functioning, it cannot make it back to Bari. As soon as they hit land at the port of Otranto, Pietro hurries off to catch a bus to Bari with the bag. Again, Pietro calls Elena from a passenger's phone and again it goes to voicemail. At Nico's, as he's slow to get the cash, the impatient Pietro punches him, but he gets the money. Rushing to Elena's, Pietro finds the kids safe and sound, with the kids initially not remembering that they had been having a sleepover at his place. Elena comes in, reacting as if she has no idea about the drug run Nico had sent him on to pay the ransom. Elena says that the kids were never kidnapped. Insisting Pietro is acting crazy, she threatens to call the police if he doesn't leave. As he's heading back his country farm, Pietro receives a recording Elena made of his admission of the drug run to Greece, using it to ensure he authorizes her taking Bianca and Giovanni to New York. Elena asks Pietro to meet her at the airport to sign the letters of consent, else she threatens to forward the recording to the police. Finding his kids at their riding lesson, they finally remember some details of having stayed in his house. Back at his house, he finds a discarded medication wrapper. Pietro hurries to Elena's apartment (Elena had already left for the airport with the kids) and the guard lets him in under the guise of seeking a forgotten passport. Finding the evidence he was seeing, Elena's Oxycodone missing a corner, he pieces together what happened. Meeting Elena and the kids at the airport, Pietro takes her aside and makes her realize he knows she drugged their kids and took them herself as he'd watched the match on TV. So, he insists she fly alone, as otherwise he'll have the children drug tested to get her in trouble. Elena confesses but blames him for being inflexible over custody. Pietro takes the kids to the house. As they horse around in the living room, he calls Santo to collect the 150,000 Euros, then sees Elena outside.