24 February,2023 04:06 PM IST | Mumbai | Johnson Thomas
Missing: Searching 2 still
A digi-tech and internet-driven "device thriller" from the #Searching team is a follow-up on the sub-genre but not truly a sequel.
Missing opens with a video clip that shows the "last family vacation" of June Allen (played as an adult by Storm Reid) and her parents, Grace (Nia Long) and James (Tim Griffin). Following that, James dies of cancer, and Grace is left to raise her daughter on her own. In the present, we learn that Grace and her current beau, Kevin (Ken Leung), are headed for a vacation in Colombia. And then Grace doesn't come back home on the appointed date.
After her mother goes missing, the teenage daughter tries to find her through tech available on her computer and mobile while sitting at home in the USA.
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Like #Searching, the narrative employs tools like mobile screen grabs, facetime, online apps, search engines, found footage, live cams of tourist spots and airplanes, chats, emails and facility management companies, etc. - all available online, in order to create a humdinger of a mystery that might not be what it seems. And it makes all the right choices while revealing information at the right time. It's never too much or too little. Every nuanced bit of the tech on display is perfectly calibrated to make things seem very intriguing.
The mystery crime story also has Police, FBI, and investigators from two countries all over the case and since the search has become public fodder through news channels, everything goes heavily viral.
Sev Ohanian's story gets a wonderful screenplay and direction from Will Merrick and Nicholas D. Johnson. Paced with breathtaking efficiency and edited brilliantly, the narrative keeps you in its grip with escalating tension despite the assortment of gadgets and screens that share equal screen space with the lead characters.
Storm Reid as June manages to make her character empathetic enough so that we as an audience can root for her. This is quite an incredible concept movie filmed with balletic efficiency and supported by Julian Scherle's attention-holding score that aids in developing an atmosphere that fits in well with the here-and-now premise.
The set-up flows into development smoothly while introducing tension and ratcheting up the level of suspense as various twists and turns keep you interested and invested throughout. The resolution through the final reveal may be preposterous, but it brings a smile to your face nevertheless.
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