Searching

PG-13

4.0 out 5

Searching begins with the introduction Margot (Michelle La) and David Kim (John Cho), a father and daughter both still coping with the death of their wife and mother. 

Both have stable lives working and going to school; everything plays out seemingly fine. One night, Margot FaceTimes her father to say she will be working with her study group pretty late. David reluctantly approves, and goes to bed without further thought.

Waking up, Margot is not home, but he assumes she left for school. Throughout the day he gradually notices her absence since the night before; unreturned calls and texts, and news that she wasn’t at school today. David realizes that his she is nowhere to be found, and quickly declares a missing person report. 

He is assigned a detective to help find his girl, and also begins a search of his own. With difficulty but success, David is able to access all of her accounts, from social media to financial reports. But looking through her digital life, he begins to think that maybe he doesn't know Margot as well as he thought. In a race for time, and with the aid of his brother and Detective Vick, David must quickly discover and solve clues that may be crucial in the investigation to find Margot Kim.

This film was very well done, and upfront I must compliment its fresh and creative layout. This online thriller is conveyed very brilliantly through apps and features such as FaceTime, Youtube Instagram, etc. With this incentive from the filmmakers, it was very interesting to see how they worked out visual dialogue and emotional scenes usually filmed on a camera.

The combination of John Cho’s engaging performance and his clever sleuthing skills is bound to keep you in suspense and on your toes with unexpected twists at every turn.