So I'm a little late to the party with this film but you know what? Who cares! I'm still going to do a review on it because that's what I do. Today I will be reviewing the new John Cho thriller, Searching. This movie was very interesting and had a really great concept. I don't want to get ahead of myself though so before I do... LET'S GET STARTED.
PLOT:
David Kim (John Cho) and his daughter, Margot (Michelle La) are living life the best they can after the death of their wife/mother. They don't really know how to talk to each other anymore. During a FaceTime call Margot tells her dad that she's at a study group that will probably go all night and that she will talk to him in the morning. That night Margot tries to reach David several times but he's asleep and doesn't hear the phone. The next morning he just assumes she got in late and had already left for school that morning until he discovers her school books on the counter which she never leaves. He becomes suspicious and does some digging. He tries to call her several times but there's no answer. Margot has gone missing.
Panicked, he calls the police where Detective Vick (Debra Messing) is assigned to the case. She tells him she will do the groundwork if he can do some digging and tell her who Margot is. Using Margot's computer to find out more he realizes maybe he didn't know his daughter as well as he thought.
REVIEW:
I'm just going to come out and say it but this movie was genius. Told completely from a computer screen, this was such an inventive way of storytelling. Although it was a bit disorienting at points to only be looking through a computer screen it really allowed us to feel like we were part of the action. It felt like we were David, like we were playing a part in finding Margot. The way they used the computer was great, using FaceTime so we could see interactions between the characters, webcams so we could see what was going on in the home, search engines to see what exactly he was looking for. I wasn't sure how they were going to pull off a whole movie in this way but they did and it kept me engaged the whole time.
John Cho needs to be in more movies, let me correct that, needs to be the lead in more movies. This guy can carry a film. With the majority of the film staying on him we really got to connect with his character and that is due in no small part to his performance. We feel all the emotions he feels: frustration, worry, anger, etc. He captures all of these and allows the audience to feel them too.
The plot was so good in this film. It didn't let up from the moment she went missing. There were so many twists and turns, you thought it was going one way and then they'd pull the carpet out from under your feet and it would go a completely different direction. It was great. The pacing of the film was also good. It was a slow build and they would throw in spurts of action to where you thought they were going to solve the case but it would lead to another discovery and you'd have to repeat the process.
The film really shows how social media and technology can affect us. We may seem one way online but behind the screen, we can be completely different. People often put on a show or facade online because they don't want to deal with their real emotions or are afraid for people to see the real them. This is shown in the film, David thinks he knows Margot so well but in reality he doesn't know as much about her as he should. It also shows the other side of this. When Margot goes missing several kids from her school who claimed to be her friend but didn't actually know or spend time with her were claiming that they were best friends on social media for attention. It's really fascinating how they put this aspect into the larger story.
The ending is probably the best part of the film at least to me. I'm not going to spoil it so don't worry but just trust me, it's great. I really liked how they tied it all together and thought they did it in a clever way.
PARENT'S GUIDE:
This is some language in this film but not much. There is also some drug and sexual references but nothing of this nature is depicted on screen nor talked about in detail. This film is rated PG-13 so it's up to you parentals if you'd like to take your kiddo this one.
OVERALL RATING:
For this film I am going to give it a....
Searching: 9/10
I thought this was a really creative way to tell a story and they did it in such a great way. The acting was great along with the plot and pacing of the story. Overall it was a really fascinating movie that had me on the edge of my seat and kept me guessing.
CONCLUSION:
Well that concludes this little review of mine. I hope you enjoyed it and I hope it encourages you to check out this flick. As always please be sure to leave me a comment or suggestion and tell your friends! Until next time!
Comments