Searching

This is a gimmick movie that’s been done before. BUT it works really really well so I’m willing to accept it. The whole movie takes place as if you’re viewing a laptop screen. David Kim (John Cho) is the father of 16 year old Margot (Michelle La). When Margot goes missing, David uses her laptop to try to piece together where she was and what she was up to in order to track her down. Meanwhile the cops, led by Detective Vick (Debra Messing) are working hard on their own to try to establish what happened to Margot. I was like okay this will probably get old after a while, but it didn’t! I was completely engaged the whole movie. Director Aneesh Chaganty nails the pacing and then ramps up the suspense as David starts to uncover odd clues as to Margot’s activities over the last few days before she goes missing. I wasn’t bothered by the fact that I was viewing everything through a laptop screen. It was almost mesmerizing to watch David as he navigates through all of Margot’s social media accounts and documents on her laptop. It was kind of creepy how much information about a particular person is available on their own personal laptops. The meshing together of technology and a missing person story is very engaging and made for a really fun movie.

Film or Movie: Movie
You’ll like this movie if:
1. You like suspense
2. You like technology
3. You want to contemplate your own digital footprint