Missing (Mini-Review)

Missing is a standalone sequel to Searching (2018). June Allen and her mother have a strained relationship. She still misses her father and doesn't like Kevin, her mother's new boyfriend. Grace, her mother, goes away to Colombia. But when June goes to pick them up, neither Grace or Kevin is there. As she starts searching for her mother, it turns out that Grace was keeping a secret from her own daughter. Missing was released in 2023. It was directed by Nick Johnson and Will Merrick. It stars Storm Reid, Joaquim de Almeida, and Ken Leung.

I first grew interested in this film when I learned it was a sequel to Searching. That movie had a good mystery with the needed twists and turns to make it engaging. Plus there was a secret plot for eagle-eyed viewers to catch. Which meant I had to hear about it from other people. Missing follows in the same vein with an engaging mystery and a secret subplot. Though I'll need to wait until the movie comes to streaming to fully understand the secret subplot.

With mysteries, the person behind everything is introduced in Act 1 aka the first part of the movie. So I focused most of my suspicion on who appeared when. While I didn't guess correctly before the reveal, something had felt really odd about one character. Something that I just couldn't figure out. Was I just being too suspicious or was I onto something? Hate it when my mind holds multiple clues in my head, but I can't put them together into a conclusion.

While the Unfriended series isn't good in a technical sense, I prefer that dedication to looking at a computer screen. But at least this movie's computer screen has a lot of things going on. There are digital notes posted all over. One character's death is dramatic even though you can't see them, only what they type.

June's relationship with her mother is the heart and soul of this movie. It is what holds everything together. The last time she spoke with her mother, she was very cold. So looking for her mother is a shot at making things right. Then there's the looming question of what Grace has kept from June for so long. Is it something that would make Grace the villain of this movie? Is it something that would make June appreciate her mother for the first time?

Before Grace goes missing, June holds a party with her friends. This was really fun to watch. There was music and the sense of utter abandon. I knew this would be the last happy moment for awhile, so I soaked everything in. One part of enjoying dramatic movies, especially horror movies, is learning not to anticipate the bad times and enjoy the good moments. Which is also how you should live your life.

Javier is one of the highlights in the movie. He's funny and a wise person. June first meets him using an online service to hire people in Columbia. She uses him to investigate her mother's disappearance as she can't just take a plane to the foreign country. June uses a civilian instead of the FBI as they aren't working quick enough for her. Javier became a suspect for me just due to how helpful he ends up becoming.

I would highly recommend Missing to those that enjoyed Searching. I would also recommend Missing to those looking for a good mystery.