Aneesh Chaganty made a strong first impression with his 2018 feature film, Searching. While he wasn't the originator of the screen life format—telling a story solely through computer screens and digital devices—Chaganty certainly helped popularize it with a compelling narrative about a father searching for his missing daughter. In Missing, released in 2023, Chaganty serves as producer and receives a “story by” credit, but Will Merrick and Nick Johnson take on the screenwriting and directing duties. This spiritual successor to Searching again centers around someone’s disappearance. The roles are flipped in Missing; instead of a parent awkwardly navigating social media while searching, we have June Allen (Storm Reid), a tech-savvy teen looking for her missing mother, Grace (Nia Long). Although Aneesh Chaganty isn't directing this time, his influence remains evident throughout Missing. We don’t often see June directly, but like in Searching, the film conveys her emotions through small details—like watching her type a message and then hesitate, letting the cursor blink before deleting it and retyping something more considered. Anyone familiar with computers can relate to those moments of impulsive writing, sometimes fueled by strong feelings, followed by a second thought and revised wording. This method of conveying emotion and revealing a character’s inner thoughts is vital for screen life narratives; it gives the story heart when it could easily become overly technical and feel detached. Another element introduced in Merrick and Johnson's film is June’s financial limitations. As a high school student, she has few resources and relies on money her mother left before traveling to Colombia. This creates a challenge when the FBI’s investigation into Grace’s disappearance stalls, forcing June to hire someone in Colombia to assist with the search. Because of her limited funds, June can't afford a private investigator and instead hires Javier (Joaquim de Almeida), an online platform worker. His inclusion helps ground the story, as he represents the kind of ordinary person one might encounter in today’s gig economy. As a father himself, Javier connects with June, understanding her desperation to find her mother. The developing relationship between Javier and June is a highlight of the film, contributing to the emotional depth needed to keep viewers invested. Thanks to its narrative twists and strong performances from Reid and de Almeida, Missing stands out as one of the few films that matches the impact of its predecessor. While Merrick and Johnson’s movie lacks Searching's initial novelty, their approach to an online missing person search introduces enough changes to make it feel fresh. It’s a thrilling experience, and anyone who enjoyed Searching should definitely check it out.

Source on TMDB