MISSING
****
Directors: Nicholas D. Johnson & Will Merrick
Screenplay: Nicholas D. Johnson & Will Merrick, from a story by Sev Ohanian and Aneesh Chaganty.
Principal cast:
Storm Reid
Nia Long
Ken Leung
Joaquim de Almeida
Tim Griffin
Amy Landecker
Country: USA
Classification: M
Runtime: 111 mins.
Australian release date: 23 February 2023.
“No one disappears without a trace.”
Missing is a mystery thriller in a similar vein to the 2018 hit Searching, which is not surprising given that it comes from a story by Aneesh Chaganty and Sev Ohanian, who co-scripted the earlier film and Chaganty directed it. This movie, however, is the debut of writing and directing duo Nicholas D. Johnson and Will Merrick, who edited Searching, so expect to revisit some of the same tropes and techniques – not that that’s a bad thing; Chaganty’s film kept you guessing while raising issues about the pervasiveness of social media. Now, once again, the plot relies on the use of technology to uncover the truth, but it also shows you how much more pervasive (intrusive?) electronic surveillance has become in the past few years.
Like Searching, a montage of home movies brings us up-to-date with the life of a family. We learn that now 18-year-old June (Storm Reid) lost her father to a brain tumour in 2010, a couple of years after the footage we’ve seen was recorded, and her mother Grace (Nia Long) is dating again; in fact, she’s about to embark on a week-long getaway in Cartagena, Colombia, with her latest beau, Kevin (Ken Leung). In preparation for her departure, Grace gives June a long list of instructions about what to do and what not to do in her absence, but June is barely listening – she is planning to ‘partay’ while her mum is away, as any 18-year-old would! The one instruction she does remember is to pick up the vacationers at LAX on the day of their return. After a wild week, she waits dutifully at the airport but Kevin and Grace fail to arrive and a freaked-out June reports their disappearance to the FBI, who tell her there is only so much they can do because they have no jurisdiction in Colombia and have to rely on the local police. Frustrated, the social media-savvy teen sets out to do her own sleuthing, ultimately hiring Javi (Joaquim de Almeida), a gig worker in Cartagena, to visit some of the places her mother was last seen. She also searches Google maps, remote cameras, Tik Tok, her mum’s and Kevin’s Facebook pages and other social media accounts, and accesses any other electronic device or interface she can think of that might help explain what has happened. And, of course, little by little she learns that there is much more to this disappearance than anyone suspects.
Storm Reid, who some will remember from Leigh Whannell’s The Invisible Man, is terrific in the lead role, largely carrying the film on her own. Also performing with distinction is the Portuguese actor Joaquim de Almeida, a veteran of more than a hundred movies and TV series, but, in Missing, he’s almost always only seen in the screen of June’s phone or laptop. Indeed, much of the movie is made up of images of June’s screens, which usually have a multitude of apps open. This girl is fast! Being a digital native, she zooms around the cyber world with the speed of a pro. If you’re sometimes left scratching your head, don’t worry too much, you’ll soon be on to the next thing. As Chaganty (who also produced this film), Missing offered a chance for the filmmakers to explore new possibilities that they couldn’t fit into Searching. He explains that, “One of the first things I realized when I directed Searching was that every single day there was another app or another website that allowed human connection in a new way. We realized that as long as technology is evolving every day, then our storytelling possibilities continue to evolve with that. The concept has evolved, there’s more adrenaline in the story, and it’s a fresher and faster experience than the first one.”
Screenplay: Nicholas D. Johnson & Will Merrick, from a story by Sev Ohanian and Aneesh Chaganty.
Principal cast:
Storm Reid
Nia Long
Ken Leung
Joaquim de Almeida
Tim Griffin
Amy Landecker
Country: USA
Classification: M
Runtime: 111 mins.
Australian release date: 23 February 2023.
“No one disappears without a trace.”
Missing is a mystery thriller in a similar vein to the 2018 hit Searching, which is not surprising given that it comes from a story by Aneesh Chaganty and Sev Ohanian, who co-scripted the earlier film and Chaganty directed it. This movie, however, is the debut of writing and directing duo Nicholas D. Johnson and Will Merrick, who edited Searching, so expect to revisit some of the same tropes and techniques – not that that’s a bad thing; Chaganty’s film kept you guessing while raising issues about the pervasiveness of social media. Now, once again, the plot relies on the use of technology to uncover the truth, but it also shows you how much more pervasive (intrusive?) electronic surveillance has become in the past few years.
Like Searching, a montage of home movies brings us up-to-date with the life of a family. We learn that now 18-year-old June (Storm Reid) lost her father to a brain tumour in 2010, a couple of years after the footage we’ve seen was recorded, and her mother Grace (Nia Long) is dating again; in fact, she’s about to embark on a week-long getaway in Cartagena, Colombia, with her latest beau, Kevin (Ken Leung). In preparation for her departure, Grace gives June a long list of instructions about what to do and what not to do in her absence, but June is barely listening – she is planning to ‘partay’ while her mum is away, as any 18-year-old would! The one instruction she does remember is to pick up the vacationers at LAX on the day of their return. After a wild week, she waits dutifully at the airport but Kevin and Grace fail to arrive and a freaked-out June reports their disappearance to the FBI, who tell her there is only so much they can do because they have no jurisdiction in Colombia and have to rely on the local police. Frustrated, the social media-savvy teen sets out to do her own sleuthing, ultimately hiring Javi (Joaquim de Almeida), a gig worker in Cartagena, to visit some of the places her mother was last seen. She also searches Google maps, remote cameras, Tik Tok, her mum’s and Kevin’s Facebook pages and other social media accounts, and accesses any other electronic device or interface she can think of that might help explain what has happened. And, of course, little by little she learns that there is much more to this disappearance than anyone suspects.
Storm Reid, who some will remember from Leigh Whannell’s The Invisible Man, is terrific in the lead role, largely carrying the film on her own. Also performing with distinction is the Portuguese actor Joaquim de Almeida, a veteran of more than a hundred movies and TV series, but, in Missing, he’s almost always only seen in the screen of June’s phone or laptop. Indeed, much of the movie is made up of images of June’s screens, which usually have a multitude of apps open. This girl is fast! Being a digital native, she zooms around the cyber world with the speed of a pro. If you’re sometimes left scratching your head, don’t worry too much, you’ll soon be on to the next thing. As Chaganty (who also produced this film), Missing offered a chance for the filmmakers to explore new possibilities that they couldn’t fit into Searching. He explains that, “One of the first things I realized when I directed Searching was that every single day there was another app or another website that allowed human connection in a new way. We realized that as long as technology is evolving every day, then our storytelling possibilities continue to evolve with that. The concept has evolved, there’s more adrenaline in the story, and it’s a fresher and faster experience than the first one.”