Movie Review: Missing

 

Michael's Movie Grade: B

A well made and exciting thriller. 

In the vein of Searching (2018), this film is completely shown to us through technology. We see everything through computer and phone screens. Even though this storytelling no longer has the originality that it had in Searching, it is still incredibly effective. This proves that this style of storytelling is not just a novelty, but an effective mode of filmmaking. Here this works both because of how essential a part of our lives that technology has become and as a way of communicating what our main character is going through in a completely cinematic way. Our main character is an 18 year old girl whose mother has gone missing and she decides to find out what happened to her mother herself. The fact that we constantly see her on the internet trying to find any clue as where her mother could be, shows how tirelessly she is searching for her in a way that we could not see as effectively otherwise. It also works perfectly in the scenes before she finds her mom is missing because she is an 18 year old girl and therefore technology is a major part of her life and this helps establish who she is and the world that she inhabits. There are a few times, where it feels a little forced to have a computer or cell phone in a scene, but these are very rare. For the most part it feels like a natural way to tell the story. It also allows for some wonderful touches of filmmaking. The montage as she is throwing the party is a wonderful piece of filmmaking and shows just how well this type of storytelling opens itself up to filmmakers to explore cinematic ideas. 

The mystery and suspense elements work quite well. This is the type of movie that keeps you guessing quite a bit throughout, never fully knowing in which direction the film is going to go. The twists and turns here are simply a lot of fun and I had a great time trying to guess what was going to happen next. The climatic scenes of this movie are great examples of suspense. Seeing this in a movie theater, I had audible gasps from the audience during these scenes and I admit that I was kept on the edge of my seat. There was also a delightfully creepy and uneasy vibe to these scenes that I simply loved. The use of lighting in these scenes as well as the wonderful way the filmmakers used the only seeing things through technology method to the story only made them more effective. It also helps that we truly like our main character. She may not have a lot of depth to her but she is very likable and easy to relate to. 

This film does definitely have its faults though. As well as the mystery element works most of the time, it works less and less the more you stop to think about it. There are quite a few unanswered questions as well as moments that either don't add up or take too much of a suspension of disbelief. There is also the fact that the majority of supporting characters are quite bland and few more like plot points than characters. The movie also has too many red herrings and this can make it drag at times.

This movie marks the feature length directorial debut for Nicholas D. Johnson and Will Merrick, both of whom had been editors on the very similar, Searching. They also both wrote the screenplay for Missing. This screenplay was based on a story by Sev Ohanian and Aneesh Chaganty, who were the writers for Searching. 

Despite any faults this film is a lot of fun and a lot of the filmmaking is excellent.