Here’s a premise achiever; you want to find it unnerving each and every time you see an unmarked white van? Watch this film. We’ll get you there in a hurry.
In the 1970s, a predatory male in Florida stalked victims with the use of a white van. The film claimed it was based on true events, but I’ve seen no evidence of such. Does it matter? A little, in that this case is 1) Totally believable and 2) The police are either nonexistent or useless as far as combating this threat. Whomever the man is, the film claims he left a steady stream of victims since 1970. His M.O. was similar in each case; he’d find a female, isolated, walking alone, creep behind her in the van, then when she got completely out of eyeline and earshot, he’s strike. The film suggested there were no survivors from these attacks before he approached his 1974 conquest.
Annie (Madison Wolfe) comes off as a little spoiled and a little bratty. Not a preponderance of either, but enough so that when her older sister Margaret (Brec Bassinger) disparages, everybody pays attention. Annie has a horse. She rides it often. Maragaret doesn’t like it, so the parents get involved. Is Margaret jealous or anal about Annie’s horse? Hard to say, but Annie starts developing a reputation in her house of being a liar and a girl-who-cried-wolf. None of this helps when the stalker comes.
We never see The Man in the White Van. Not fully, not clearly. This is a directorial choice, like hiding the shark in Jaws. Except we eventually did get to see the shark. Writer/director Warren Skeels (great name, btw) thought that if he showed us the guy driving the van at any moment, it would detract from the threat. It was a gamble, and I don’t think he’s wrong. OTOH, if you title a film “The Man in the White Van” and then never show or give dialogue to the man in the white van, I feel like your title is a bit misleading.
We have very little evidence about how much research Man put into earlier victims. We can guess based on the abductions that he does identify potential victims well ahead of time, which makes the lack of police or FBI in this film all the more disturbing. Where is Clarice Starling when we need her? We have plenty of evidence as to how much effort Man is putting into his Annie abduction: We see that damn white van everywhere. It’s at school; it’s on her horse trail; it’s al her house; it follows her home. Again, where are the police.
There is a growing of dread that comes with each new viewing. As the film has been thorough enough t
o show us the abduction moment from five different abductions, we know exactly what this man is and what he’s capable of. When you see the white van on Annie’s property for the first time, it is not a calm moment. Did I mention that the father of the family travels and is away for days at a time? Did I mention they live in a remote part of Florida? Their nearest neighbor is at least a quarter mile away. Did I mention Halloween is approaching? You put all this together and you realize that no matter how well Annie has identified the potential danger, she’s probably on her own when having to face it.
The Man in the White Van is an effective, if very basic, thriller. Only those into victim blaming would state otherwise. Unfortunately, we have a whole country full of those at the moment, so, you know, this film hasn’t gotten a lot of attention and probably won’t going forward. Does that matter? Well, only if you want you thrillers to continue to be crap like M3GAN. Yeah, sure, go ahead and worry about the two-foot AI plush toy doll and not the creepy guy in the van. It’s your life.
There once was a girl named Annie
Problems? I’d say she had many
Outcast in her clan
And stalked by a van
She’s never gonna make it to granny
Rated PG-13, 105 Minutes
Director: Warren Skeels
Writer: Sharon Y. Cobb, Warren Skeels
Genre: Survival
Type of being most likely to enjoy this film: Middle children
Type of being least likely to enjoy this film: Van owners
