Missing is a suspense thriller from the same team that made Searching back in 2018. While I thought that film was a first-rate whodunnit, this sequel of sorts doesn’t quite lead me through the maze as effectively, but it still gets points for its cast and their willingness to craft a story that does generate a decent amount of intrigue.
The movie stars Georgia native Storm Reid as a teenage girl who lives with her single mother (Nia Long) after her father passes away. They move from San Antonio to Los Angeles. The girl’s mother decides to go on a vacation to Colombia with her new boyfriend.
She instructs her daughter to pick them up at the airport when they get back, but when she does, they’re nowhere to be found, leading the girl to contact the police to help her find them.
The search goes nowhere, and soon the daughter gets so desperate that she enlists the services of a local investigator (Joaquim de Almeida). He does his darndest, but his pursuits come up short each time.
Like Searching, this movie utilizes a similar visual technique in which all the action is seen through the point of view of a computer screen and cell phones. All the details that push ahead the plot are seen through various websites, social media sites, text messages, and more so the daughter can come one step closer to finding her mother.
The performances help lend the story the gravity it deserves, but other elements strain its credulity. I get that in a mystery thriller such as this, there needs to be a sense of convolution so the plot is not simple-minded, but even through the techniques used in this movie, it loses some of its plausibility.
While Searching had plot elements that made it hold water, Missing seems to be occasionally played by a kind of scattered internal logic.
Still, I am recommending it based it on the strength of the performances from Reid and the supporting cast. While some of the story doesn’t work at times, when it does, it brings out a real sense of earnestness.
This standalone follow-up doesn’t come close to reaching the perfect heights of its predecessor, but it does offer some things that are lacking within its genre.
Grade: B+
(Rated PG-13 for some strong violence, language, teen drinking, and thematic material.)
This review is dedicated to the memory of my aunt Mary Theus.
