Is Vanished worth watching? All the reasons why Sam Claflin and Kaley Cuoco ‘deserve better’ than Amazon’s ‘disappointing’ thriller
There's one big reason why Vanished may not be worth your time
Vanished, Amazon’s new thriller with Sam Claflin and Kaley Cuoco, isn’t on par with the year’s best TV so far – nor will you think about it much when it’s done.
We’re barely three months into 2026, but there’s been no shortage of great television. Lord of the Flies, A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms, and the Stranger Things finale, to name a few.
There is a downside: that means a lot of shows are vying for your attention every week. What’s worse is the risk that you choose poorly, committing yourself to hours of rubbish while pledging to catch up with something else that’s clearly better. Only, you never do, because the next thing comes along all too quickly.
So, which side does Vanished fall on: worth your time, or are you better off skipping? That’s what we’re here to weigh up – spoiler, it’s not great.
What is Vanished about?
Vanished sees Kaley Cuoco trying to solve another mystery in a foreign country. This time, she’s an archaeologist instead of a flight attendant.
The series opens with Alice (Cuoco) meeting Tom (Claflin) in a hotel in Paris. They’re longtime partners and globe-trotters whose careers force them to see each other in all sorts of different places.
Tom acts a little bit shifty, whether it’s private phone calls or his stilted reaction to Alice asking him to move to America with her. Yet, he surprises her with a booking at their dream hotel in Arles, so they set off on the train together.
Somewhere along the way (near the Roquefavour Aqueduct, a key filming location), he vanishes from the train. Alice can’t find him anywhere, so she gets off at Marseille to speak to the police.
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She meets a journalist who offers to help, and it looks like Tom may be mixed up in something rather sinister.
This is the biggest problem in Vanished
Vanished isn’t a perfect series. The music (overly electronic, PS2 and early-aughts-eque) is overbearing, it’s largely quite predictable, and its two leads just aren’t that convincing (more on that shortly).
However, it has a big, irritating issue: its ending.
Don’t worry, we’re not going to spoil it. But it’s really worth mentioning, given how important it is for a mystery to have a satisfying conclusion. Think about it: every thriller you hold dear, whether it’s Broadchurch or Life on Mars, has a great ending.
For a show that rarely goes beyond being inoffensively watchable, it’s wrapped up in such a way that it undercuts everything that came before. It’s not as bad as “it was all a dream!”, but maybe that would have been bolder than what it goes for.
Vanished also takes its central mystery in some pretty dark, soberingly true-to-life directions – but it fails to properly reckon with them.
Be warned: even if you enjoy most of the series, you may let out a disappointed harrumph when it shows its hand.
Kaley Cuoco and Sam Claflin are better than this
Cuoco and Claflin are talented actors. They’ve delivered well-liked performances in a variety of projects (even if you don’t like The Big Bang Theory, Penny turned Cuoco into a worldwide star).
Claflin, who’s had superb turns in Peaky Blinders and The Hunger Games franchise, also enjoyed two earlier collaborations with Amazon in Lazarus and Daisy Jones and the Six.
Alas, they’re simply not a good match-up. The chemistry isn’t there, though that could be a casualty of the show’s script. “I’m an archaeologist, I know how to get dirty,” she tells him in one scene.
The clichés, while excusable, are still a little tiring. One detective even has the gall to say, “I’m getting too old for this.”
Cuoco is a likeable enough lead; capable in action scenes, and easy to root for as she runs around Marseille and handles every emotional blow. But how can a thriller about a woman searching for her man work when you don’t care about them being together in the first place?
So, is it still worth watching?
This much can be said for Vanished: it’s light (despite some of its subject matter) and fleetingly entertaining.
The on-location cinematography certainly helps – you’ll feel like you’ve been transported to France.
It’s only four episodes long, comparatively brisk compared to Netflix’s eight-episode habit and other gargantuan telly undertakings. Even if you don’t like all of it, it won’t feel like a huge waste of time.
At best, it’s the ideal show to watch while you do your ironing or scroll through more stimulating content on TikTok. At worst, it’s a weightless, ridiculous thriller.
Read more: The best Prime Video series to watch this month
