Let's kick off the month with a film review about a man and his missing kid - Searching. This movie was produced by Timur Bekmambetov, the same guy who brought us Unfriended and its sequel, so the entirety of the movie takes place on the screens of electronic devices - laptops, mobile phones, security cameras... you know the drill by now! Unlike those movies, however, Searching takes place over the course of a few weeks, and we're treated to fade-ins and fade-outs that signal time lapses.
At its core, Searching is a heartwarming story about family wrapped in a crime thriller and delivered via the medium of modern technology. There are plenty of dramatic, funny and sinister moments. You'll laugh, you may cry, and perhaps even scream.
Warning - Spoilers ahead!
It's been a month since the movie came out and you've probably already seen it. And if you haven't, the chances of me persuading you to see it are abysmally low. So I'm just going to shamelessly post spoilers. If that's a problem for you, scroll right past everything to the Rating and Conclusion!The Premise
David Kim is a widower still coming to grips with the death of his wife years ago. His daughter Margot is a teenager who goes missing, and his search for her begins on the computer, trawling her Social Media accounts and emails for clues.The Characters
John Cho is David Kim, and what a performance he puts in. I first heard of him in the Harold and Kumar movies, and later the Star Trek movies. If there were any lingering doubts that this man can act, they've been all but dispelled now. The emotions Cho brings forth on screen are palpable - his worry, his dread, his rage, his sorrow - all of it. As the show progresses and he gets even more frantic, the emotionally repressed man we see earlier in the film lets loose, and it's glorious to behold.Michelle La plays Margot Kim with just the right amount of wistfulness. She's entirely believable as a sad withdrawn teenager who puts on a happy face for her father but deep inside is grieving every bit as hard as he is.
A very stiff and wooden Debra Messing as Detective Rosemary Vick. Perhaps she was trying to come across as serious and dedicated, but somehow I wasn't really feeling it. Even at the end when she's outed as the culprit, I'm not quite feeling the villainy. Her performance is definitely the weak link here.
Equal parts shift-eyed and supportive brother Peter Kim is played by Joseph Lee. His was a solid, laid-back presence.
Sara Sohn as Pamela Nam, Margot's mother. She pretty much forms part of the background, looking beautiful even as she wastes away from cancer, and her character is shown only in flashbacks. To be fair, that was probably how the character was written.
Briana McLean as Abigail. Puts up a watchable performance as Margot's supposed "bestie" who tries to feed off the attention generated by Margot's disappearance by sobbing on camera for her YouTube audience. Acting within acting! Not bad.
Ric Sarabia as Randy Cartoff, the ex-con who confesses to the murder of Margot in a chilling and creepy video. The actor feels wasted here; he did a good job and could have done more.
The Mood
The show starts off light and dreamy, with happy domestic scenes. It soon starts getting heavy on the sorrow as part of the setup, and later on when the search for Margot is in full swing, while the action technically still takes place on computer screen, John Cho somehow manages to portray his character's growing anxiety. It goes into full-blown crime investigation thriller after that, and the sense of desperation never lets up until the end. The tension, at times, is so thick you could crack an egg on it.What I liked
While the entirety of the movie took place on computer and camera screens, it didn't stick slavishly to the format and sometimes provided close-ups and zoom-ins on important information.The entire family using a Windows XP computer was both nostalgic and sweet.
The hoops David Kim had to jump through in order to retrieve Margot's password shows just how convoluted the Internet is now... and how alarmingly possible it is for those of less-than-noble intentions to obtain information.
When David was entering Margot's name into the web browser, auto-complete gave him "Margot Robbie". I was tickled.
The scenes of Margot's acquaintances claiming to be her BFF and tearing up on YouTube for the Likes, was just such an apt description of the Social Media user's need for attention.
David getting increasingly unhinged and desperate with each passing day. John Cho is excellent in the role. Hell, it would be much of an exaggeration to say John Cho is pretty much the whole movie.
It was a good plot. Lots of twists, followed by heartwarming moments. Foreshadowing aplenty. And a lot to think about in hindsight.
What I didn't
Not sure I understand why it's suspicious that Rosemary Vick was in a picture with the supposed murderer. It seems innocent enough (she's in a volunteer program for ex-convicts), and even if it were suspicious, other cops would have made that connection, right?Conclusion
Searching is billed as a crime thriller, but it also has comedy, tragedy, genuinely heartwarming family moments and social commentary on the state of the world today. It's a superbly crafted film and entertaining as all heck. Especially if you're a heavy Social Media user. And it somehow never seems to drag even though the running time's about two hours.My Rating
8.5 / 10
What are you waiting for? (Mar)got see it!
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