I wasn’t sure what to expect when I went to see “Searching,” a modern-day thriller directed by Aneesh Chaganty starring John Cho as David Kim and Debra Messing as Detective Rosemary Vick.
The story is unique in that it takes place solely through technology such as FaceTime, Google, iMessaging, and cameras. We follow David Kim as he discovers that his daughter, Margot is missing and his struggle to find her. The movie opens with John watching nostalgic videos of himself, Margot, and his now deceased wife who now occupies his Windows computer background. This shows us how the Kim family has grown up over time.
Immediately after, David Kim FaceTimes his daughter to reprimand her for forgetting to take out the trash, where she responds saying that she is at a study group with friends and needs to be there the entire night. Before David gets to respond, she hangs up. That’s the last the audience sees of her.
During the night, he receives two missed FaceTime calls from her. The next morning, when he gets up, he discovers that Margot did not come home that night from her study group. David quickly calls the police station, where a detective gets assigned to the now open investigation.
This is where things really start to heat up. Detective Vick starts interviewing people whom Margot spent her time with as well as looking into what Margot was up to before she mysteriously disappeared. Towards the end of the movie, the audience sees David Kim make a pivotal discovery which leads to the falling action of the movie. I will say no more so I do not spoil the movie.
Throughout the movie, the audience gets a perspective of how much such technology is used in the modern world, whether it is email, social media, FaceTime or Google, which exemplifies our reliance on such technologies.
I really enjoyed the movie “Searching.” It was exciting from start to finish, and I could not take my eyes off the screen for the entire movie because I did not want to miss anything. Something new was happening every five minutes so I could not miss a second or I’d miss a major plot point. This made the movie special because there was so much that needed constant attention.
The movie has a fast pace, and all the action happens in a good linear order that helps build up to the climax of the movie which is very unexpected to the people in the theater.
“Searching” is not like a traditional thriller movie because it is told entirely through technology. We see everything that is happening behind the scenes which adds a new twist to the movie. It allows the audience to see what goes on behind the scenes, unlike in all thriller movies where the audience does not see what goes on behind the scenes.
I would highly recommend this movie to any fans of thrillers or mystery movies — you never really know what will happen next. I was shocked multiple times throughout the film, and I’m sure you will be too.
A lot of fun. Nice review.