Searching Review

I literally looked at my computer in a different light after watching this movie. That's a weird statement to make, but it's true.

Story- I feel it's always hard to discuss a thriller's basic premise without giving away key bits, so here goes: Father David Kim is just an average guy, when one day his daughter doesn't return home from a study group. What follows is a series of cyber sleuthing where he tries to trace her digital footprint to see if he can aid in solving the mystery of where his daughter disappeared to. While I'll be singing this movie's praise, it's not without its faults. I feel that the resolution, while satisfying seemed just a tad rushed, but it was something I didn't expect to happen. Another thing is that there are certain points in the plot where there are holes in the logic that don't exactly match up, but this was only determined after I finished the movie because there wasn't room to think while watching it because I was fully invested. Overall, I was very surprised with how they were able to keep this movie going without the main premise feeling like a gimmick. I also supremely appreciated the different social commentaries that were in this story as they didn't feel forced and I agreed with the message. Without spoiling much, there was one point in the movie where a bunch of Margot's classmates come out on the news and social media saying how close they were, which was an utter lie. The whole time I was shaking my head during this scene because this epitomizes the need people feel to be famous or have people empathize with them, so I'm glad they were effectively called out in this movie.

Cinematography/Props- Given that it was entirely on a computer, the computers looked... real? It was realistic which is what counts. 

Acting- Michelle La plays the daughter Margot, and given that she's basically not in most of it aside from images and brief videos, you still feel the worry for her, in whole due to the excellent realism in acting from John Cho. It's always a bit of a shock to see actors who get their start in comedies branch out into more serious roles, like John Krasinski in A Quiet Place or Vince Vaughn in Hacksaw Ridge. Well here, John Cho, who most would recognize from his popular role in Harold and Kumar Go to White Castle, brings an excellent performance as a worried father. I keep commenting on the realism of everything else in this movie, but his reactions feel genuine. To an extent there's even scenes where at first glance you think that the acting isn't superb, but that was intentional because it's exactly how someone would react being put in this situation. 

Directing- This is a hard one to talk about, because you can't really "direct" a digital screen. What I will discuss instead is essentially what work would've been done behind the scenes to give us the final product, which is why I made the cinematography section shorter. Aneesh Chaganty in effectively his directorial debut wows me in more ways than one. For this being his first feature film, the fact that it was executed this well says a lot about his promise. The only other movie that I can think of that did this was Unfriended, which I haven't seen. I will say though I hope this doesn't start a trend like found footage horror films because if we learn anything, it's that squeezing a unique premise dry sucks it of originality quick. I read that the scenes for this movie were filmed in a few weeks, but it took two years to develop with the amount of editing that was required, and the direction Aneesh provided. 

Soundtrack/Audio- Now that I think about it, I don't remember hearing anything resembling a soundtrack (which is a credit to the immersion aspect) even though I'm typing this immediately after watching it. With a movie whose aim is to be realistic, I'm glad they used actual sound effects for applications instead of random stock sound effects.

Final Verdict- A. I hate that I do it, but when a movie has me needing to briefly look up something that happens right after the climax while I'm still watching the movie, it means it really is that good. This movie felt like it was going on for hours even after the first hour mark, but that's only because you're invested in seeing what happens. There were certain parts where I was thinking "pleaseeeee break away from this format so I can see something" so there's an aspect of leaving you wanting more. I'd highly recommend this film.

#Thriller #JohnCho #Mystery