As we learned thousands of years ago with the legend of Prometheus, technology can be both a gift and a curse. No matter how old you are, dear reader, think of all the scientific advances that have taken place in your life. The internet has got to be the biggest and most influential of the past few decades, which, again, is both a mixed blessing.
On the one hand, you can access almost all knowledge about the history of mankind in the palm of your hand thanks to smartphones. On the other hand, think of how many times you’ve gone down the rabbit hole and been sucked down with article after article, meme after meme, clickbait after clickbait.
That’s the world we live in now, as expertly portrayed in “Missing,” a new mystery film by the team that brought us “Searching” in 2018 and “Run” in 2020, all movies that show how well you know how to get around Google. And Facebook could help solve a possible murder.
The reason for both “The Find” and “The Lost” is that the entire movie takes place through the point of view of a laptop or smartphone screen, something many of us use every day. Though it’s been done many times before, Missing continues to push the tired found footage genre by making this all-screen stunt a tool for clever storytelling and an exciting journey of mystery and discovery.
When her overprotective mother (played by Nia Long) goes missing while on vacation in Colombia with her new boyfriend, high school student June (Storm Reid) searches for the best possible answers while getting in the way of international red tape.
Stuck thousands of miles away in Los Angeles, June creatively uses the latest technology at her fingertips and her knowledge of the internet and social media to try to figure out who her boyfriend Kevin (Ken Leung) is and find her mother before that too. late.
As she digs deeper, June’s digital espionage, with the help of her best friend Fina (Megan Sorey) and Colombian-for-hire, Javi (Joaquim de Almeida), raises more questions than answers, and she discovers she may never have known. My mother’s past at all.
With the Gen Z hero using everything from TikTok to Instagram to dozens of other apps I didn’t know existed, the movie has a younger audience in mind when determining exactly how June will resolve this situation. Because show and news are so intertwined with this medium, the general idea of using Google and email is clear enough, but audience members who aren’t the most proficient in today’s technology might get lost in some of the details.
Fortunately, the staff did a great job of selling the emotional side of this story. June is onscreen for almost the entire run with her face mostly filling the screen, so Reed can’t be shy about using the best special effect around – the close-up. And when plot twists begin to unfold and drama begins to unfold, her teenage know-it-all persona breaks, showing just what a wonderful young actor Reed is.
While this is supposed to look like everything is happening authentically on screen, this entire production is a huge special effect. Yes, every single video clip was done for the mobile phone, Facebook page, and Google search, but those hundreds of snippets had to be processed and edited together to make it look like they were all happening in the same space, which is a testament to the whole production and technology teams piecing together seamlessly.
As impressive as it is, the story itself is cliché and predictable, falling into operatic territory at the end. For better or worse, the filmmakers are at least acknowledging that by showing this and the two previous films as episodes in a true crime series, poking fun at just how much people love these kinds of real-life mysteries.
While sometimes confusing or clichéd in its execution, Missing is a fine addition to the unofficial anthology of writer/producer Anish Chaganty’s work and a noteworthy directorial debut for Nicholas D. Johnson and Will Merrick, editors of The Search and Run which he directed. Chaganti. At the rate that technology is advancing, who knows what the next batch could bring?
