Could "Missing (2023)" Re-Capture the Magic of its Techno-Thriller Predecessor?

Release Date: January 20, 2023 Platform: In Theaters

After writing and directing the surprise 2018 hit Searching, Aneesh Chaganty returns with writing partner Sev Ohanian to deliver the story for Missing, a standalone sequel that continues the tech-focused thriller concept. As the reigns are handed to Nick Johnson and Will Merrick for their directorial debuts, Storm Reid (Euphoria) leads the cast as June Allen, a daughter who falls down a conspiracy rabbit hole as she frantically searches for her missing mother.

This unconnected sequel continues the unique filming gimmick of the story being experienced solely through personal electronic devices, like computers, phones, and security cameras. It almost feels wrong to call it a gimmick with how well edited and engaging the movie was and how its shooting style takes a backseat to its engaging narrative. Although the story in Missing is not connected to Searching in any manner, the movie does fall into the sequel trope of branding a similar story but doing it much bigger. That does not falter the movie, though, as its mystery is still quite unique and specific to its characters.

When June’s mother, Grace (Nia Long), and new boyfriend Kevin (Ken Leung) fail to return to Los Angeles after a weekend trip to Colombia, June is given no hopeful answers by the US Embassy. Having already lost her father as a child, June uses all the technology at her disposal to lead her own investigation into her mother’s new boyfriend and do more than she feels the authorities are. As new information is uncovered at every turn, June learns that there are quite a few questions that need to answered, some of which pertain to her mother and secrets she may be harboring. Just when you think the mystery is starting to get pieced together, June’s sleuthing throws new ripples into the theory and subverts expectations until the end of its very personal conclusion.

The movie does a really good job of keeping its audience engaged and shocked with the overabundance of new layers revealed in its narrative. It is quickly paced, which benefits it well, since its shooting style lends itself mostly to maintaining interest through plot development and there is plenty of that to go around. There are more than a few times that an audible “whoa” could be heard in the theater, especially when the story drops a bomb that suddenly overturns the entire conspiracy it was building. For fans of Searching, there are some fun nods to the original that worked as fake-outs to communicate that it is not just repeating the previous film, such as the revelation with Grace’s lawyer. The pacing also moves the story quickly past the questions of validity regarding what June is able to do from her phone and computer. Sure, the internet contains a vast sea of possibilities and there is a program or website for everything, but there are a lot of conveniences that this 18-year old encounters with her internet skills.

The film is, surprisingly, able to decently build its characterizations through social media postings and video chatting. It solidly vilifies Kevin, a character seen in person for mere minutes, while constantly creating a sense of doubt about that villainy. More excitingly, though, was the heroic rise of June’s Colombian assistant Javy (Joaquim de Almeida), who subverts the stranger danger trope with charm. Maybe this should not be much of a surprise considering the majority of today’s human interactions occur in the same ways, but is also a testament to Reid’s performance that fostered the audience’s feelings towards the ancillary characters. The proverbial emotional rollercoaster takes effect as new information is uncovered that both favors and hurts the characters’ perceptions, leaving the audience to rely on June’s reactions in determining how to tip the characters’ scales.

This story starts on a personal note and disappears into a tangled conspiracy that comes back around to its personal nature in the third act, which ultimately felt like a mistake. It deflated the anticipation of possibilities that the movie seemed to be building towards. The mother’s secret becomes much more practical than the foundation that the complex narrative was built on. In the same respect, though, this tonal shift in the third act benefited the film’s overall cohesiveness in bridging June’s deeper personal stakes in this endeavor. This double-edged sword of a final act becomes the ultimate reminder that nothing in these movies can be taken at face value. It is also does something very different in pulling June, who is essentially the narrator, into the story and into real danger. As vital of a role as technology plays, this is a human story that knocks down the wall of its virtual disconnect when its young protagonist is no longer safely playing detective.

Even though the first movie was released only five years ago, Missing feels so much more socially relevant in its themes. Not in a preachy sense, but just very relatable. Perhaps this is influenced by the COVID lifestyle that existed in between releases or the younger nature of the lead, but June’s engagement with technology just captured reality so well. From its commentary on today’s true-crime obsession to online dating to the spreading of fake news, the movie’s themes echoed the internet’s dichotomous nature as a tool for good and harbinger of evil. It also felt like a bit of an Apple commercial, with Siri really taking a front seat in the humor and resolution of the story, with the latter event squandering the serious tone of the climax’s end.

Independent of its inability to match the overall quality of Searching, Missing delivers a fun and thrilling watch that falls off in its final act. The momentum it builds throughout its wildly spiraling crime conspiracy is excellent and the anticipation it builds with the seeds it plants pushes any of its annoying tendencies towards the background. Abandoning its somewhat disconnected but intriguing mystery for a simpler and more cohesive conclusion felt very unadventurous when all was said and done. At the behest of Occam’s razor, the simplest answer is not always the best. Even so, Missing is sure to take you on a fun ride for most of its near two-hour runtime with some jaw-dropping moments that will keep you guessing until the hood is pulled back on June’s unexpected guest.

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RATING: 💻 💻 💻 💻 / 5

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