Vanished: Age 7

Vanished: Age 7 is a rather typical Japanese horror film, except that it is set up as a thriller with a conscience. It starts off by stating the number of people disappearing each year in Japan as an introduction to the plot, but as things move along it become increasingly clear the film chases a more typical horror narrative.

The 7-year-old Sakura disappears right under the nose of her mother Mana. She is desparate to find her, but nobody knows where her daughter vanished to. Years later, two young girl disappear without a trace in a nearby forest. Mana sets out to investigate if maybe the forest holds answers about her daughter's disappearance.

The limited budget doesn't really work in Miyaki's favor here, some of the CG is so bad you wonder why they even bothered. Even so, Miyaki manages to build up a decent atmosphere and the finale isn't too bad. It just takes the film a while to get there and with relatively poor performances and a lack of stylistic polish, this isn't really a highlight of the genre.