Searching Found Itself

Searching (2018)

I enjoyed the movie Searching a lot. It has an introduction with the emotional weight of the opening to Up, just not as perfect. It showed the progression through time through the screen of a computer, which started by adding a new user to Windows XP, the daughter, through the notifications and calendar events and videos and pictures until the mother’s passing, which brought the viewer up to speed. It was particularly cool to watch for someone my age because I recognized every program and how I would use them at each stage of life the daughter was going through. Even the quality of pictures and videos subtly improved as the years went by until they upgrade to newer operating systems, specifically Mac OSX (it looked like Yosemite, but I’m not positive). The introduction was not the only part that was a masterwork of digital detail. The entire movie was shown through a computer or phone screen. Every scene was either through security footage, Facetime, or through streaming services like Youtube. I thought for sure that the gimmick would grow old quickly, but there was enough variation in the programs used that it never got stale. I can’t give away anything besides the very basics of the plot without potentially spoiling the movie, but the gist is that John Cho’s daughter is missing and Debra Messing plays the lead detective on the case. The movie was filled with emotional peaks and valleys and had very well timed reveals. It could have been bogged down and gotten boring, but, like the technology used, it was constantly evolving and updating. Searching is one of the most unique crime thrillers I have ever seen and the stylistic risks really paid off. I will use my rating to bring to light a very sobering statistic: I give Searching 400,000 of the approximately 460,000 children who are reported missing in the US every year. Look out for each other, especially your kids.