The 2018 film Searching found a creative and unique way to tell the story of a not-so-tech savvy father desperately searching for his missing teenage daughter, with everything seen through the lens of his daughter’s laptop. The creators of that film are back with an all new story told in a similar, but even more clever and exciting way.
18-year-old June (Storm Reid, Euphoria) can’t wait until she heads off to college and lives on her own in a few months. She lives in Los Angeles with her mother, and she can be a bit of a brat, always thinking of herself, ignoring her mother’s phone calls, requests and messages, to hang out and party with her friends. Her mother, Grace (Nia Long, The Best Man: The Final Chapters), just wants to connect with her daughter like they used to when she was younger, before June lost her father a decade earlier to some unspecified illness. Grace hasn’t really had much of a love life in the past 10 years, but she finally met a sweet guy named Kevin (Ken Leung, Lost), and the two are heading off for a romantic weekend in Columbia. June has been planning to host a massive party as soon as her mother leaves—she just needs to dodge her mother’s lawyer friend Heather (Amy Landecker, Your Honor), who’s been given keys to check up on June. After a long weekend of drinking and partying, dependable June is hungover and late to the airport to pick up her mother. And after waiting several more hours, reality sets in—her mother is missing.
June had been treating her mother like more of a nuisance, but now that she is missing, June realizes just how bad she had been to her mother. She doesn’t want the last thing she ever says to her mother to be a thumbs up emoji to her mom’s “I Love You” text. June and her best best friend Veena (Megan Suri, Never Have I Ever) are true crime fans, and their obsession with the TV drama Unfiction may just come in handy. June starts investigating her mother’s disappearance on her own, looking through her mother’s online accounts, hoping to find some geo-tracking information, or clues as to what might have happened to her. She discovers that the hotel where her mother and Kevin stayed has security cameras, but the footage will be wiped out in just 2 hours. June tries contacting the US Embassy in Columbia, FBI Agent Park (Daniel Henney, Criminal Minds) and others, but no one seems to be able to help in time. So she uses her internet skills to hire a friendly Colombian man named Javi (Joaquim de Almeida, Warrior Nun) to be her boots-on-the-ground helper. However, as her investigation unfolds, June starts to realize that Kevin may not be the person he said he was, and that her mother may also be hiding some secrets of her own. As June cleverly utilizes modern technology to unlock the past and figure out what is going on, she encounters many unexpected twists and turns along the way.
Missing flips the script on the first Searching movie, this time around following a tech-savvy teenage daughter hunting for her missing mother. I thoroughly enjoyed Searching, but this follow-up takes everything to an even bigger level. Even though you’re pretty much watching screens the whole time, the film still feels incredibly cinematic and exciting. June grew up with the internet and it’s second nature to her. She is able to rapidly switch between apps and websites to gather the information she needs as she tries to make sense of what happened and locate her mother. She makes use of things like WhatsApp, Google, FaceTime, Google Translate, Siri, TaskRabbit, Google Maps, dating sites, and so much more, investigating the case like a professional. She has a keen eye, and something that seemed like an unimportant detail initially will suddenly spark something in her mind and lead her to a new breakthrough. However, she hits several red herrings along the way. The story has so many exciting twists and turns—just when you think you have everything figured out, there’s some new fake-out, or bombshell that is dropped, which shakes everything up.
While the film is always told via screens, it is able to take viewers beyond June’s room and laptop by making use of other devices and video sources, such as Javi’s phone, security camera and news footage, doorbell footage, live internet cameras, a smartwatch, a car rear view camera, and more. The filmmakers also haven’t just screen-recorded the action. They have painstakingly animated all of the computer interactions seen, with very deliberate actions and information. This also leads to a lot of humor thrown in to ease the tension, such as June being in a rush but still pausing to contemplate if that square containing the tiniest tip of the bus qualifies for the captcha. There’s so much detail buried in each scene that you could easily re-watch this over and over and find new things—there’s even a fun aliens on earth side storyline that plays out in the background in the news reports.
Storm Reid is excellent in this role, starting off as this bratty, self-centered teenager, who we slowly discover has a deeper, caring side. In this crisis, June realizes just how crappy she has treated her mother, and desperately wants the chance to make things right. Reid is in pretty much every scene, and she nails it, both with the action and the more emotional drama.
Sony has released the film on Blu-ray & DVD, but it is also available in 4K on Digital. I was sent the Blu-ray for review. The picture quality is extremely good on the Blu-ray, with a clean, clear picture that captures all of the action. Some scenes are intentionally grainy, such as when June first contacts Javi on WhatsApp and his cell phone doesn’t have the best reception, but this is a stylistic choice, not a quality thing. The audio track provides clear dialogue, and somewhat immersive ambiance where it makes sense. The picture weaves in and out of this external footage being on the laptop to the viewer being immersed in it full-screen, and the audio track does an excellent job of differentiating the two.
The Blu-ray disc comes in a standard HD keepcase, placed inside a glossy cardboard slipcover. An insert provides instructions on how to redeem an HD digital copy of the film. The bonus material consists of over 30 minutes of behind-the-scenes featurettes with the cast/crew and some deleted scenes, plus an audio commentary with the filmmakers.
What’s Included:
Film: (1:50:42)
- 1080p / Widescreen 1.78:1
- Audio: English 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio, English Audio Descriptive Service, French 5.1 Dolby Digital, French Audio Descriptive Service, Spanish 5.1 Dolby Digital
- Subtitles: English, English SDH, French, Spanish
- HD digital copy of the film, redeemable via Movies Anywhere or Vudu
- Storm Reid and the Challenge of Missing (5:34)
The filmmakers talk about casting Storm Reid and what she brings to the role, while Reid discusses what drew her to the project and the challenges of filming such a unique movie. Includes behind-the-scenes footage, and interviews with producers/writers Aneesh Chaganty & Sev Ohanian, directors/writers Will Merrick & Nick Johnson, producer Natalie Qasabian, and stars Storm Reid (“June”) & Amy Landecker (“Heather”). - The Screens that Rule Our Lives (5:10)
The cast and crew discuss the challenges of making a film that takes place on a computer screen that stills feels cinematic, designing the movie beforehand before filming, animating the computer screens rather than doing screen recording, the changes in apps and technology since Searching, and more. Includes behind-the-scenes footage, and interviews with producers/writers Aneesh Chaganty & Sev Ohanian, directors/writers Will Merrick & Nick Johnson, and stars Storm Reid, Lauren B. Mosley (“Rachel”), Tim Griffin (“James”) & Nia Long (“Grace”). - Hunting for the Missing Easter Eggs (8:28)
The filmmakers discuss and point out some of the many Easter eggs that have been hidden in plain sight in the movie, including references
to Searching, shout-outs to family and friends, foreshadowing and clues, an elaborate parallel alien invasion storyline, and more. Includes interviews with directors/writers Will Merrick & Nick Johnson, producer Natalie Qasabian, producers/writers Aneesh Chaganty & Sev Ohanian, and stars Amy Landecker & Nia Long. - Misdirects, Online Crimes and the Social Media Mystery of Missing (6:53)
The cast and filmmakers talk about amping things up from the first film, the big story twists, the misdirects and red herrings, and more. Includes behind-the-scenes footage, and interviews with producer Natalie Qasabian, producers/writers Sev Ohanian & Aneesh Chaganty, directors/writers Will Merrick & Nick Johnson, and stars Storm Reid, Amy Landecker & Nia Long. - Making a Frame Timelapse (:48)
Timelapsed footage of laying out June’s computer screen filled with various apps and information. - Deleted Scenes (9:07)
Directors/Screenwriters Nick Johnson & Will Merrick provide introductions to 4 deleted scenes, explaining why each was ultimately cut.- Alternate Character Intro, June (1:36)
June is in a Zoom session with her friends when her mother tries to Facetime her. - Down the Rabbit Hole of Crime (1:30)
After realizing her mom is missing, June starts going down a rabbit hole of watching scary internet crime videos. - Piecing Together The Mystery (2:19)
June and her mother are thrown together in the same room, where they piece together the mystery. - Alternate Villain Demise Animatic (3:53)
Storyboarded scene of an alternate version of the villain’s downfall, with James being captured by the police.
- Alternate Character Intro, June (1:36)
- Filmmaker Commentary (1:50:42)
Producer Natalie Qasabian and directors/writers Nick Johnson & Will Merrick provide a fun and informative commentary throughout the film. They share a lot of interesting behind-the-scenes stories about the production, point out Easter eggs, discuss the complexity and technical challenges of making the movie, and more. Sometimes in their excitement they talk over one another, but I still found it to be entertaining. - Previews (9:48)
Trailers for Don’t Breathe 2 (1:50), Spider-Man: No Way Home (2:54), The Invitation (2:32), and 65 (2:31) play back-to-back.
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Blu-ray:
Digital (Limited time offer):
Extras:
Final Thoughts:
I first saw Missing in the theater, and so while re-watching on this Blu-ray I was already aware of the twists, but I still found the film to be incredibly clever and entertaining the second time around. Fans of Searching will absolutely love this follow-up as it amps up everything that was great in the first film, including the action, mystery and twists and turns. However, folks who haven’t seen Searching can still fully enjoy Missing on its own. The story and characters are completely separate and not directly related. This release comes highly recommended for anyone looking for an exciting and unique movie experience.
