True-crime documentaries have to work harder these days to grab the attention of audiences. Sensationalist tactics, carrot dangling digressions, and redundant red herrings soon lose their appeal. Thankfully, The Heather Elvis Case never makes those choices but relies on re-enactment and talking heads to make a point. An illicit affair with a married man, angry repercussions in the heat of revelations, and a late-night disappearance seven days before Christmas 2013. It sounds cut and dried on the surface, but this rabbit hole keeps getting darker the deeper filmmakers dig.
Directors Michael Bayer and Jeff Dean piece together the events leading up to Heather’s disappearance with surgical precision. Sidney More and his sugar daddy behaviour are explored in excruciating detail, revealing the horrific truth beneath his marriage to Tammy. A union that made him embark on an ill-advised affair with someone more than half his age. Something in the community of Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, that turned heads quickly and got all the wrong people talking. These events may seem truly tragic in the aftermath of Heather’s Houdini act, but this film is about more than one missing girl.
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Vanished explores the definition of trial by social media, when that type of herd mentality was far from common place. Across local online message boards, mainstream chatrooms, and behind closed doors rumours spread like wildfire. With all fingers pointing to Sidney and his wife Tammy, online smear campaigns, and malicious Chinese whispers soon had police asking questions elsewhere. More than anything, this film feels shockingly relevant given the emergence of cancel culture, where people are scared to offend anyone for fear of being ostracized. However, imagine grieving parents who were shocked into silence, and fearful for their missing daughter, receiving the same treatment.
This trial through public opinion is now part of the cultural landscape, but back in 2013 social media was relatively new. There was less understanding, fewer policing measures, and countless opportunists looking to take advantage. There was also less awareness around the historical importance of text messages, images, and anything posted online. Those street smarts had yet to be applied to a digital landscape, where opinions exist forever, and mistakes last a lifetime. The disappearance of Heather Elvis made waves for all those reasons and more, since there were clearly other reasons for her disappearance.
What these filmmakers manage to achieve through Vanished is a dramatically satisfying true-crime documentary, that digs a bit deeper than most. It might not reinvent the wheel, but neither does it feel uninspired or predictable. However, it does highlight the despicable nature of humanity and what some people will do to avoid accountability. With a wealth of true crime dramas out on Netflix from Dahmer through to The Staircase, taking a more grounded approach to engage audiences feels refreshing. Helping to make Vanished: The Heather Elvis Case, a film well worth tracking down for fans of this genre.
Vanished: The Heather Elvis Case is available on Amazon Prime, and AppleTV+ from March 10, 2025