“Missing” (2023)
Highly recommended social media whodunit.
Highly recommended social media whodunit.
With twenty minutes remaining of this dizzying social media whodunit that surprised me greatly in being incredibly engaging and very good indeed, there’s a left field turn that only The Narrator in Fight Club can aptly describe when he infamously stated:
“We have just lost cabin pressure”
Cabin pressure duly lost amid a story twist I simply didn’t see coming, I was greatly impressed by a film that I didn’t start out believing I’d overly enjoy yet I did. Immensely.
Described as a sequel to the 2018 film Searching and both written and directed by that film’s editors Nick Johnson and Will Merrick, Missing is another whirling array of multi-screen open tabbed multi-tasking social media of the internet, WhatsApp, Facebook and Instagram, and a young 18 year old daughter playing Matrix detective in search of a missing mother who she is rather distant from, and all whilst pining for the father who cruelly died so early in both his and her life. With her mother and new boyfriend officially missing after not returning from a holiday in Colombia, the young lady’s personal heartache becomes a national and international search amid a blitz of unwanted mainstream news media intrusion into a personal story that threatens to turn her world upside down.
“This is not a show. This is my Mom”.
Your stand out stars from a very good show indeed:
From her big screen debut in the Steve McQueen directed 12 Years a Slave a decade ago through to her star cameo turn in episode seven of this year’s must see television spectacle and PlayStation spin-off The Last of Us, Storm Reid excels as the armchair internet detective surrounded by a blur of friends, acquaintances and newly acquired internet bound helpers a real world away. As she slowly pieces together the puzzle of the ex convict and apparent conman who has come between her and her mother as well as upturning an already fragile and awkward existence, Storm Reid is quite literally front and centre of her screen as well as yours, and all whilst capturing the heartfelt affections of a scooter riding stranger in South America.
Perhaps more recognisably known for his appearances in the long running television series 24 or as far back as the previous century and Clear and Present Danger, every time Joaquim de Almeida was on screen I simply wanted to shout “Here’s Javi again!” as he’s the heart of the soul of this film. As with the young lady he’s trying to help, Javi too has a backstory, but rather than spoiling that story, just enjoy every second he’s on screen as he tries to unravel the real life story on the ground for his new found friend at the end of every desperate WhatsApp telephone call across the American border.
Aided and abetted by star turns from Nia Long (You People), Ken Leung (Old), Amy Landecker (A Serious Man) and Daniel Henney (Big Hero 6), Missing surprised and pleased me greatly with a left field twist I didn’t see coming.
Highly recommended.
Thanks for reading. Just for larks as always, and always a human reaction rather than spoilers galore. My three most recently published film articles are linked below or there’s well over 250 blog articles (with 500+ individual film reviews) within my film library from which to choose:
“Luther: The Fallen Sun” (2023)
Everyone’s favoured James Bond is back!medium.com
“Skinamarink” (2022)
Hide and Seek in an upside down house of horrors.medium.com
“Everything Everywhere All At Once (2022)
Worth every minute. Across every universe.medium.com