Hey Siri, Find Mom
One giant Apple ad, clever social media thriller, note-for-note rehash of ‘Searching’ – or all three? Yeah. All three.
Missing
Directors: Will Merrick, Nick Johnson • Writers: Will Merrick, Nick Johnson
Starring: Storm Reid, Nia Long, Joaquim de Almeida, Amy Landecker, Ken Leung, Daniel Henney. Tim Griffin, Megan Suri
USA • 1hr 50mins
Opens Hong Kong February 23 • IIA
Grade: B
A more appropriate title for debuting writer-directors Will Merrick and Nick Johnson’s sequel to the clever 2018 mobile mystery Searching (the one with John “I Make Movies Better by My Mere Presence” Cho) would be Searching 2: Siri Saves the Day, but it’s not called that. It’s called Missing, and it’s a beat-for-beat, note-for-note copy of writing-directing-producing team Sev Ohanian and Aneesh Chaganty’s earlier film. Let’s face it: These films feel a little bit like a couple of movie nerd buddies sat around one night and while aggressively altering their realities came up with a killer concept – a mystery told entirely through the lenses of our modern tech – and then went on an “And how about…?” rampage. It’s the if-you-saw-47 Meters Down-you-saw-Fall scenario. They share producers and so they share filmmaking DNA. Searching was about a dad who worried his introverted, vaguely depressed daughter was in danger and was equally sure she didn’t run away, and so went looking for her on Facebook and YouTube. Okay, it was a made up thing called YouCast but that’s the gist. Essentially, Searching said, you can’t disappear. None of us can now.
So in a case of “and how about”, Missing (whose story is credited to Ohanian and Chaganty, who also produce) swaps the players – the missing person is the parent – and (no spoilers, it’s in the trailer) the end game: Shady mom Grace (Nia Long, The Banker) wants to vanish. For all of the times Missing repeats the tricks and twists of the first film, it maintains its “WTF is going on?” vibe and swift, entertainment-first pace – with more actual branding this time around.
Riveting screen action. Literally
Missing isn’t as surprising as Searching, the second film never is, but it is more sinister in how it turns the beauty of the conveniences and accessibility of connected tech devices on its head without condemning it entirely. Yeah, knowing in your soul something’s wrong because mom is always, always on time and warns you if she’s late… and that radio silence means trouble is great. And Apple Podcasts (I say Apple for good reason) is maggoty with series about con artists who vanished into thin air with the change of a phone. But, Missing asks, what if you want to get gone?
The minute overbearing, widowed single mom Grace goes off to Colombia for a romantic getaway with her new, dating app-located boyfriend Kevin (Ken Leung, Old), her surly, distant daughter June (Storm Reid, Euphoria, Bloodsport’s foul-mouthed daughter in The Suicide Squad) starts with the house parties. She Venmos (the American PayMe) liquor funds with her pals, the Apple Watch owner Angel and Veena (Michael Segovia and Megan), but is nonetheless a little melancholy about the anniversary of father James’s (Tim Griffin) death. But when June heads to LAX to pick up Grace and Kevin, they’re no-shows and she starts to freak out. This is not like Grace. She recruits a Colombian errand service operator, Javier (the always welcome Joaquim de Almeida, Fast Five), for remote help, then the FBI gets involved in the form of agent Park (Daniel Henney) and only deepens the mystery. The game is afoot.
Missing’s major “action set pieces” involve rapid Googling and copying-and-pasting addresses and names, so to Merrick and Johnson’s credit they exploit satellite tech and our live cam world for maximum effect, and like Ohanian and Chaganty before them don’t limit the action in one room and one screen. And for as much of June’s investigating may be fanciful (at least some of it is), the directors pepper in enough that’s recognisable – both in hard/software and our collective behaviour – to blur the lines and maintain the narrative momentum. Who hasn’t been irritated at being asked click those bloody squares that contain a bus? And is that little bumper applicable? Who hasn’t repeated a password? There’s also some fun at the expense of the current true crime craze, with an in-movie series called “Unfiction” documenting the drama of Searching. It’s legit hilarious.
But the best (worst?) thing about Missing is how it meticulously documents June’s search for answers using the (now) everyday tools we take for granted and builds a propulsive mystery almost purely on details she gleans from Gmail and publicly posted iPhone snaps. It reminds of how much of us is really out there, no matter how often you clear your cache, cookies and how frequently you change your password while barrelling towards a surprising finale, one that’s probably all too realistic for such a throwaway diversion. Now if you’ll excuse me I’m going to scrub some accounts. — DEK