Missing is a screen life thriller written and directed by Will Merrick and Nick Johnson (in their feature directorial debuts) from a story by Sev Ohanian and Aneesh Chaganty, who also produced the film with Natalie Qasabian. The film is a stand-alone sequel to “Searching”, (2018). A teenager tries to find her missing mother after she disappears on vacation in Colombia with her new boyfriend. The trailer for this film looked so exciting that I was immediately hooked. After seeing Missing, I thought the movie turned out to tell a pretty decent story.
In an archive video, a young June Allen (Storm Reid) is with her deceased father James (Tim Griffin), who died from a brain tumor shortly after the video was made. Presently, June plans a house party once her mother Grace (Nia Long) leaves for a week-long trip to Colombia with her new boyfriend Kevin (Ken Leung), telling June, to her annoyance, that she will be looked on by her mother’s good friend, Heather (Amy Landecker), who is a divorce lawyer.
A week later, June is tasked to pick up her mother and Kevin at Los Angeles International Airport, but they never show up, causing June to contact the authorities. Frustrated by the lack of progress by the FBI, June decides to investigate herself using an array of digital tools that are at her disposal like Google Maps (where she tries to track her mother’s location in Colombia), Facebook messages, internet search histories, and much more. She also hires Javier (Joaquim de Almeida), a Colombian gig worker who agrees to help June for a small fee.
June turns out to be quite resourceful but still has not learned what happened to her mother and her Kevin. As time passes, much is revealed while things start to heat up. Nobody seems to be what June thought. June’s best friend and Javier appear to be the only people she can trust. Several movies and series have existed by the name “MISSING” and they all tell an intriguing story. This version was pretty good but leaves quite a few questions about simple everyday decision-making. Remember Missing is a sequel to Searching (2018), which was announced back on January 13, 2021. Searching’s film’s editors, Will Merrick and Nick Johnson would write the screenplay and direct Missing based on a treatment by Chaganty and Ohanian.
Missing made $3.4 million on its first day, including $760,000 from Thursday night previews. It went on to domestically gross $28,367,645 (100%), and $13,633 internationally, for a worldwide total of $28,381, 278 as of Feb. 2023. On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 86% of 106 critics’ reviews are positive, with an average rating of 6.9/10. The website’s consensus reads, “Missing can strain credulity in its efforts to keep the audience guessing, but a fast pace and relatable fears keep this twisty techno-thriller from completely losing its way.” Missing is currently showing in theaters — Check It Out!
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