WHAT'S THE STORY?
In SEARCHING, David Kim (John Cho) has a happy family. He enjoys watching his daughter Margot grow up, posting pictures and videos of her to social media. As Margot hits her teenage years (played by Michelle La), David finds himself raising her alone, and she seems increasingly distant. Finally one day she simply disappears after a supposed study group, and David hits the internet to try to find clues about where she might have gone. Her friends don't seem to know much, but he discovers that she's also been skipping her piano lessons and pocketing the money. A detective (Debra Messing) comes on the case, and time seems to be running out. Can David spot the final clue that will piece everything together?
IS IT ANY GOOD?
Perhaps inspired by the success of 2014's Unfriended, this mystery ventures in fresh, new directions while being superbly constructed, emotionally satisfying, and culturally relevant. The debut feature of director Aneesh Chaganty, who also wrote the screenplay with producer Sev Ohanian, Searching is notable for focusing on a Korean American family without making an issue of it. It frankly doesn't matter what culture the Kim family comes from (other than in the valuable representation sense, of course). What matters is what would matter to any human being when a family member is in trouble.
In the lead role, Cho does amazing things, performing largely by himself and within unconventional cameras and camera setups, reaching new emotional depths. The movie's filming techniques do recall some of the more effective things used in Unfriended and Unfriended: Dark Web, but Searching expands the genre's toolbox, going further in both time and space. And the screenplay, while suffering a few small, easily forgivable shaky spots, is a thing of beauty, furthering the story with desperate, constant propulsion, and dropping little clues in the most innocuous places. When it all comes together, it's with a most pleasurable snap.
LESSON WE CAN LEARN FROM THE MOVIE
LESSON #1: WE LEAD DIGITAL LIVES NOW — The opening of Searching feel like one of those well-crafting marketing campaigns from big-time tech companies we used to see a decade ago. A sunny light of empowered happiness is presented to play with the emotional boosts possible from technology, its connectivity, and the ability of the featured products to document not only simplify our lives but craft our memories. Those slices of salesmanship are no longer dreams. We’re living it. We each might as well be the Kim family.
Because of that unifying degree of empathy, Searching is a heart attack of a film that preys upon every parent’s fears in this current digital world. One night, Margot disappears and the missing persons’ rabbit hole opens wide to consume David. Played across the layered screens of open applications, iMessage, FaceTime, browser tabs, and video feeds, the digital breadcrumbs unearthed by her father and the diligent lead detective (Debra Messing, life Cho, playing it straight) reveal a very different daughter than the one David thought he knew. Password recovery inside Margot’s laptop reveals a megabyte minefield of unforeseen mysteries involving squirreled-away money and a shady video-streaming social media platform of unknown identities. The ensuing mystery and spectacle becomes an escalating nightmare of click bait, hashtags, news spin, emoticons, and blind thoughts and prayers.
LESSON #2: DIGITAL LITERACY HAS BECOME THE NORM — Piggybacking from Lesson #1, Searching is a scalding and topical parable for our times, one with a premise that wider modern audiences can readily understand and buy for suspense. Portraying both the positive and negative capabilities of connected tech, this is a colossal cautionary tale that screams to be a wakeup call for parents and consumers to be keen, aware, and protective of their digital footprints. That’s the high-tech part on the glossy outside. The analog part is next.
LESSON #3: MAKE THE EFFORT TO KNOW YOUR KID — Out of all of the gadgets buzzing and data streaming through Searching, zero technology comprises its true human core. No matter the fault or the cause, “everything is fine” is rarely a true statement when you ask whether or not you really know a child, their friends, and interests. No device is required for straight-up parental love, participation, and involvement. You have to put the screen down, talk, and engage in conversations and quality time to build familial bonds. Such intact trust is the way to have freedom and personal space worth hand-in-hand with the guidance and countermeasures before blame and regret ever become mistakes.
MOVIE DETAILS
In theaters: August 24, 2018
On DVD or streaming: November 27, 2018
Cast: John Cho, Debra Messing, Michelle La
Director: Aneesh Chaganty
Studio: Screen Gems
Genre: Thriller
Character Strengths: Perseverance
Run time: 102 minutes
MPAA rating: PG-13
MPAA explanation: thematic content, some drug and sexual references, and for language
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