With the critical and financial success of the screenlife thriler Searching, it makes perfect sense that this film would launch a sequel. Though Missing is not an actual continuation of the story established with the previous movie, it continues the franchise with a similarly, computer/electronic-based thriller that follows a similar story with some twists and surprises of its own. While Missing isn’t as well-crafted and unpredictable as its previous installment, it nevertheless delivers a rather intriguing and compelling plot, that proves that the producers want this series to thrive and succeed well.
Storm Reid stars as June Allen, a strong-willed teenager who has no trouble challenging her single mother Grace (Nia Long). Though Grace has her qualms, she decides to put her trust in her daughter to make the right decisions while she goes on a Colombian vacation with her new boyfriend Kevin (Ken Leung). After throwing a wild party in her mother’s absence, Grace soon discovers that her mom has gone missing when she and Kevin fail to appear at the airport when they are supposed to return. Worried that her mother has been abducted, June investigates her mother’s electronic history using her computer to find out what actually happened.
Written and directed by Nick Johnson and Will Merrick, Missing gives audiences a riveting ride through cyberspace, as June tries to solve the mystery of her missing mother. Much like Searching, this new story utilizes our modern technology to present a mystery-thriller in ways that are very timely and relevant to the age in which we live. The movie, while not as exceptionally crafted as the first movie, still manages to confound its viewers and delivers a reveal that no one should possibly see coming.
The cast offers some solid and excellent work in making this fictional take on our world seem so real and credible. In addition to the great performances by Storm Reid, Nia Long, and Ken Leung, the movie benefits from the great acting by Joaquim de Almeida, Daniel Henney, Amy Landecker, and Tim Griffin.
While Missing doesn’t necessarily beg to be watched in the theater, I feel it is still certainly worthy of a trip to the cinema. If the producers have further stories to add to this anthology, I definitely hope they can still manage to discover other treatments as good as, or better, than what they have presented so far. One can only hope, that after Searching and Missing, that other filmmakers have some wonderful ideas to keep this franchise moving forward.