Missing: Movie Review

Cast: Storm Reid, Nia Long, Ken Leung, Joaquim de Almedia 

Director: Will Merrick, Nick Johnson

Functioning as both a standalone thematic sequel to 2018's Searching and a commentary on true crime obsessions since that film, 2023 always-on-screen movie Missing makes great use of suspense and tension, as well as a empathetic lead - even if it tries too many breakneck WTF twists too often.

Storm Reid stars as June, an always-online teen who's grown distant from her mother (Nia Long) after her father died when she was young.

Unhappy her mom has a new beau Kevin (Lost's Ken Leung) and they're about to head to Columbia on holiday, June's dismissive of her concerns and plans a party when they're gone.

But when June heads to meet them at the airport for pick up and they don't show, she begins a race against the clock search to locate her mother from the confines of her bedroom and using only her internet wiles.

Pacy, slick and stylish, with nods to Netflix's influence in the true crime world and slyly commenting on how everyone thinks they can solve a crime, (as well as some terrifying parallels and inadvertent commentary on missing UK mother Nicola Bulley) Missing manages to make something of a good strong fist of its mix of suspense and grounded acting from Reid.

However, at times, the film pushes against the bounds of credulity by piling one twist and reveal one after another - so much so that the cinematic house of cards threatens to narratively topple throughout the film's back half.

Yet, through a combination of slick editing, overuse of graphics, and a wry nod to the fact June is more internet savvy than Searching's John Cho's character was, the film lays terrifyingly bare the darker online world and the ease of which to track people.

Despite being drowned in technology throughout Missing, the film doesn't lose sight of the human element. And while June's connection to a hired low-rent oddjob man in Columbia may be an obvious father figure element, the warmth between Joaquim de Almedia and Storm Reid makes it a relationship that's easy to latch on to.

The film's ultimate reveals dash away any hint of doubt or misdirection with an almost OTT psychodrama that plays out - and while that leaves a slightly sourer taste in the mouth given the narrative desire to push as far as is humanly possible and pull the rug out from the audience, it's in the quieter moments that Missing truly excels.

When Missing's logic comes together, it does so flawlessly, and while the filmmakers are to be commended for going big, this twisty techno-thriller works better when it focuses more on the real fears of abandonment, of not knowing what's happened and of being powerless to stop any of it from afar.