It’s addictive and it’s eye-opening. Missing, from the same team that brought you 2018’s Searching, is another fantastic thriller set entirely on digital devices. Searching was like nothing a lot of people had seen before and every moment of it was unique. After watching Searching you wanted to watch another film like it but nothing existed. That is until now.
Missing, starring Storm Reid and directed by Nicholas D. Johnson and Will Merrick, follows the story of June shot entirely through her digital devices, laptop, phones, watches and everything. June’s mum, Grace, goes away on a trip to Colombia with her boyfriend but fails to return. June is then tasked with finding where her mum is from home with only the tools available to her online to unravel the mystery of her missing mum.
The way Missing is created and edited is very addictive and the complete project is exciting as well. When you think this could get old after the first film, the film adds another way of completing the case from a device. What is amazing to watch is between Searching and Missing there have been so many new advancements in technology and social media that I firmly believe a third film will feel just as fresh.
Mixed in with the addictive behaviours of using your device too much, Missing also throws in the fact that people love thrillers and murder shows. In the Searching/Missing world, the cases are part of a Netflix series. This is just another way the film explores how we use our devices and obsess over everything but our own loves.
The concept of Missing is what makes it stand out from other thrillers but the way the execution and the brilliant story are yet again fantastic work from the team behind these films. It would be very easy to make a film like this and have a bad story, it would end up being a one-film gimmick, but for the second time, the team have proved themselves that their digital thrillers are here to stay and I’m hoping there are many more to come!
Score: 4/5