'Missing' an energized, timely, tech-savvy thriller set in a scary surveillance state
“Missing” - ★ ★ ★
In “Missing,” we have what might have been the most innovative, energized and timely thriller of 2023, a flash-edited testimonial to tech-savvy Zoomers with the ability to navigate the online world with blinding speed and machine-like precision.
For the first hour, this “screen life” missing persons tale moves so fast and furious with so many brain-blanching surprises altering our views of reality that we shouldn't notice a few pesky shortcomings as complications supersaturate the plot.
“Missing” springboards off Aneesh Chaganty's 2018 “Searching,” a taut and engaging mystery thriller starring John Cho as a desperate dad looking for his missing daughter - with all the action played out exclusively on smartphone and computer screens.
Written and directed by “Searching” editors Will Merrick and Nicholas D. Johnson, “Missing” serves as a bigger, busier stand-alone sequel, also told through laptops, phones and smartwatches.
But I kept wondering why the main character, a smart and troubled 18-year-old named June Allen, constantly displays a FaceTime video of herself on all her devices, taking up valuable screen space she needs for more important things, such as solving the mystery of her mom's disappearance.
“Missing” begins in 2008 when a much younger June shares some quality time with her dad, James (Tim Griffin), captured on home video. A quick montage of emails and reports summarizes her father's death and tracks how her mom Grace (Nia Long) relocated with her to a new home in Los Angeles.
Twelve years later, June (now played by “Euphoria” actress Storm Reid), still haunted by her father's death, shares a strained relationship with Grace. But when Grace and her new boyfriend Kevin (Ken Leung) do not return from a romantic getaway in Colombia, June goes full-throttle digital detective, accessing documents, text messages, photos, surveillance videos, doorbell security systems and news reports to find out what has happened to them.
The FBI proves to be ineffectual, so June relies on help from her best bud Veena (Megan Suri), her mom's close friend Heather (Chicago's own Amy Landecker) and a cheap, hired Colombian investigator named Javier Ramos (Joaquim de Almeida), a sympathetic dad with his own offspring issues.
Once “Missing” slams into high gear, we drop down an online rabbit hole as June peels back layer after layer of false assumptions and lies to discover that her world, and the people in it, may not all be as she imagined.
With Julian Scherle's nerve-jangling score squeezing maximum tension out of June's frenetic online searches and shockeroo discoveries, “Missing” is gripping, ripping and dripping with intensity, until it finally implodes under the weight of its increasingly ridiculous gimmickry.
In later scenes, every building and space seems to be equipped with a zillion cameras that conveniently offer close-ups and wide shots from every possible angle.
Why does June always put FaceTime videos on her devices? Because the filmmakers needed us to see her reactions to everything, despite that no one actually would do this in real life. (For the record, “Searching” got it right.)
“Missing” doesn't say much about the scary surveillance state it shows us.
But we can take comfort in knowing that no matter what threats we face, we can count on Siri to take the situation Siri-ously.
Starring: Nia Long, Storm Reid, Joaquim de Almeida, Ken Leung, Amy Landecker
Directed by: Will Merrick, Nicholas D. Johnson
Other: A Screen Gems release in theaters. Rated PG-13 for teen drinking, language, violence. 111 minutes