Missing

I loved Searching (2018) so I was surprised that it was getting a standalone sequel.

For the most part, this is a worthy sequel that retains the great visuals and the compelling mystery of Searching (2018). Storm Reid is the main lead and she gives a great performance. Her character doesn't have a great relationship with her mother and she isn't exactly being great to her. Despite that, the movie gets you to really root for her because you see her desperation and regret once her mother is missing.

I do have a couple of gripes that make me enjoy it less than Searching (2018).

1. I find it hard to believe that the police wouldn't have access to the emails needed for the investigation.

2. Once the reveal happens, I question a lot of the overly complicated plan and the believability of it.

3. I also can't believe Javier has a 2.8 star out of 5 for his service. That guy is an MVP!

Just like Searching (2018), the mystery keeps you gripped with every twist and turn. It's a great mystery worth watching!

I genuinely enjoyed 90% of the film. The idea of having this young woman sleuthing through little more than the apps on her phone and laptop was quite well presented. So much so that, frankly, the scenes set outside that computer setting looked uninspired and slapdash, namely any of the cable news programming and police news conferences. The silly little things we all experience with the internet and social media were solidly, often amusingly, displayed (my favorite perhaps being the slight hesitation deciding whether a front edge of a bumper constitutes part of a yellow school bus in a CAPTCHA picture).

And sure, there are numerous plot holes, mainly due to trying to maintain the mystery (the who?, how?, why? Only come into question after the reveal). But all this can be ignored, as the movie was genuinely engrossing for the majority of the picture. Until... the reveal, which, no spoiler, is sadly predictable. And while I don't entirely object to the nature of the resolution itself, the movie oddly changes pace into a rather pedestrian imitation of an action-thriller. I really wish it had been able to maintain its core atmosphere, and not descend into the ordinary.

This movie had no right to go this hard and be so entertaining. I'm likely the demographic for this type of movie, as it takes place entirely on screens and the lead is just a bit younger than me, but I typically find "fully online" movies to be boring, but this movie was exceptional. The clues are laid out but in a way where they are not super obvious, though the reveals with the clues later on are believable. The acting in this film was also much better than I was anticipating. An issue with movies like this are that there is no HD camera, so the visual aspect of acting is difficult to pull off, but the voices alone make the conversations work, and the visuals aren't too bad either. The movie works so well because of its emotional core and because of Javi, the best character. He seems like a genuinely nice dude who was played expertly by his actor, and I was rooting for him and June the whole movie.

I had to pause the movie at one point, and thought about 45 minutes had passed. I was actually at the 68-minute mark when I paused, so I think that's a sign it was doing something right as a fast-paced and engaging mystery/thriller film.

It's the kind of thing that almost has too many twists, but you kind of just have to go with it, and they never frustrated me too much. It was a tiny bit exhausting, but I respect how hard they committed to making things as unpredictable as possible.

Like with Searching, the presentation in Missing is mostly fun. As far as negatives go, though, I can't really go into details without spoilers, but the presentation in the final act felt a bit off to me at points. The filmmakers had certain limitations to deal with thanks to the modern-day found footage format, but they stretched it a bit near the end there. You go from one big twist to "oh, I guess they have to show everything this way now," and it's a bit much.

Otherwise, this is pretty good stuff.

June becomes concerned when her mother Grace doesn't return home from a trip to Colombia with her new partner Kevin.

First off, if you've seen Searching, you'll be very aware that it was made by the same people, I loved that, I loved this one.

What a clever plot, it's just a good old fashioned mystery, but one with a twist, this time it's the child searching for the parent, and instead of physically searching, she does it all with technology, makes a change to see tech given a positive spin.

Edge of the seat viewing, it is full of twists and surprises, you never know what is coming next, it doesn't follow any of the usual conventions. It didn't bore me for a second, what a triumph in writing.

Storm Reid was excellent as June I thought, a convincing performance, you really did get a sense of June's desperation and frustration.

9/10.