Thomas’ wife, Katherine, dies by suicide in the film “The Vanishing.”
In the 2018 psychological thriller “The Vanishing,” also known as “Keepers,” Thomas, played by Peter Mullan, is one of the three lighthouse keepers who find themselves in a perilous situation after discovering a chest of gold on an uninhabited island where they are stationed. The film is loosely based on the Flannan Isles mystery, where three lighthouse keepers disappeared in 1900.
As the story unfolds, it is revealed through Thomas’ guilt-ridden hallucinations and flashbacks that his wife, Katherine, had been suffering from a terminal illness. Unable to cope with her deteriorating condition and the prospect of a prolonged and painful death, Katherine chooses to end her life. This tragic event haunts Thomas throughout the film, contributing to his psychological torment and the tension that builds between the keepers as they face greed, paranoia, and the consequences of their actions after finding the gold. Katherine’s death is a pivotal part of Thomas’ backstory, influencing his decisions and the unfolding drama in the isolated setting of the lighthouse.