It is a good time for surprisingly quality films to come out featuring Asian actors/actresses as well as minorities in general,
from the charming Romantic Comedy Crazy
Rich Asians to the sharp, thoroughly engaging racial drama BlackKklansman, this month has released
some great films onto the viewers everywhere.
Well, we might have another one just coming out called Searching, a crime/mystery thriller from
writer/director Aneesh Chaganty with second writer Sev Ohanian, following a
father played by John Cho looking for his teenage daughter after she
disappeared one night from supposedly attending study group. The film has been getting praise and love
from its festival circuit run and it is sporting the novel style of technology
visuals of Apple/PC to visually convey this crime story akin to certain Crime TV
shows and most importantly, the horror/thriller series Unfriended. Can this film
inject something different into this formula or at the very least, make the
concept and premise compelling and well written/directed? Let’s boot up the computer and search through
the clues by looking over this case’s story.
We follow the calm, loving father David Kim (John Cho), a
single parent that looks after his teenage daughter Margot Kim (Michelle La) after
his loving, caring wife Pamela Nam Kim (Sara Sohn) passed away from an illness specifically lymphoma, a year ago. They both lead seemingly happy lives from the outside, with friends and their social lives brimming with
normalcy. However, one day, Margot goes
to a study group late at night while her father goes about his routine with
assurance of where she is. However, the
following morning, Margot never comes home from her night studies with her
friends and David becomes worried that she disappeared. So, after calling the police, David starts
his journey to find his daughter through the local law enforcement agencies.
David gets into contact with Detective Rosemary Vick (Debra
Messing), a veteran investigator that works indirectly with David to find
Margot through different means and understand the reason behind the
disappearance. Despite their vigilance,
the case is going cold by the day as there seems to be very little physical
trace of her presence. However, the only
traces she left of her existence is through her digital activities and prints
via her laptop and social media. Told
through the perspective of computers, phones, and technology in real time, the
search goes digital as David becomes desperate to find her and understand the
reason/circumstance behind her disappearance.
What transpires is a mystery where perception can truly shape a person’s
life online, where the line of truths and lies are blurry, and the true reason
for her disappearance will shake the foundations of this father’s life.
This has one of the most intriguing and tense mysteries that
has been written for film in quite some time.
It helps that this crime story has an emotional arc and heart to it in
the complicated relationship with Margot and David, as they are both affected
in tragic ways by the passing of Pam, wife and mother. Many of the red herrings and misdirection
come from the emotional turmoil found in both characters. But it is also refreshing to see a father
that is both relatable and likable as well as understanding when his character
goes through the harshest emotional beats of the story, challenging his notions
of his feelings for his daughter’s life.
It is this very core element of the story that keeps the film from being
too reliant on its own unique, visual storytelling gimmick that has become
popular in the genre of horror/thriller but it must be noted that this is a
crime/mystery thriller with no supernatural horror element to it at all,
despite what the conflicting advertisement might convey to viewers online.
Which perfectly leads to another aspect of the film that not
only feels timely but serves to give the film its own unique identity in the
history of film, its exploration of social media and the growing use of
technology conveying our lives to the world.
While films like The Social
Network explored one aspect of social media, this film encompasses all of
them as well as the search on different computers going from PC to Apple
randomly. It is for all intents, a true
tech noir story that is reliant on the investigating elements of this story and
slowly but surely understanding the circumstances behind Margot’s
disappearance. It does have flaws that
keep it from being perfectly executed, where the second half isn’t quite as
engaging as the first half of the film as well as breaking its own established
rules of perspective to wrap up the story and provide the answers awkwardly
despite ultimately being worthwhile to see the truth unfolded. Its story is mainly driven by not just the
mystery but the emotional conflict/core of the film being David’s search for
the truth and understanding the turmoil that drove Margot to become distant
towards him after the death of Pam, her mother.
The cast is relatively small but fully developed and
performed by either newcomers or acting veterans in the film. The main draw and heart of the film is John
Cho as David Kim, who has to act mostly on his own and with very few characters
but he conveys the desperation and turmoil of a father looking for his daughter
effectively well. He has to deal with
many character shifts and changes on his own and he handles it efficiently
well. The other highlight of the cast is
Detective Rosemary Vick (Debra Messing) investigating the disappearance of
Margot voluntarily and she provides a very solid and remarkable turn as the
determined officer with her own baggage as a mother to deal with. Everyone else are in bit roles especially
Joseph Lee as Peter Kim, David’s hockey obsessed, weed smoking but devoted brother
and Michelle La as the distant, emotionally vulnerable daughter in her feature
film debut all turn in solid performances throughout the short time they are in
it. It is mainly VO work and isolated
performances but the committed and emotionally resonant core of the story
allows these characters to really feel believable and interesting to follow.
Let’s get to the technical aspects of the film, starting
with the cinematography and style of the film, as it builds upon a very
creative and inventive approach to the horror/thriller genre. The style developed by Juan Sebastian Baron is
through the technology and social media software on hand from iPhones to
Facebook, Tumbler, Instagram, and Youcast.
It is quite a unique way to convey the investigative nature of the film
especially as it maintains the perspective on David’s search and the characters
he interacts with to find Margot. We
stay on him for most of the film with only a few breaks from his point of view
near the end of the film to unravel the mystery while entertaining, does betray
the concept of seeing the story through one characters POV a bit. Still, this is a very clever and concisely
done way to convey a traditional crime mystery story with technology and social
media with a bit of film wizardry to maintain the illusionary trick.
This plays also into the editing from Nick Johnson & Will
Merrick, as they must convey the crime story as well as allow for this online
world to be relatable and real to the audience.
The beginning of the film is essentially the heartbreaking, emotional life
sequence of the animated film UP done
in a very stylized way but still effective in setting up the characters and the
relationship they have for each other.
As the film goes on, we see David’s routines and working on the computer
until Margot goes missing. For most of
the film, we intercut between David investigating the people that knew Margot
with the occasional news report that attempts to parody the sensational atmosphere
of the news but does so that feels a bit incredulous and goofy in its execution
overall throughout the film. The film
moves at a good pace without feeling any real lulls as it devotes enough time
to developing David’s character arc with the investigation storyline through
the editing.
Lastly, the sound design of the film is very minimal with
only a few musical cues and theme to drive the character arcs throughout the
story as well as the use of traditional computer sounds. The musical cues and themes were composed by Torin
Borrowdale and they fit rather nicely with the moments of clarity as well as a
wonderfully distinctive and calm theme to establish the emotional core of David
and his family. It is however mainly
just ambient noise and computer sound effects for most of the film, adding to
the believability of the world itself.
Every sound has a reason to be hear or seen but it does allow for music
cues to kick in for the purposes of conveying an important clue/revelation to
the case and the emotional moments of David painfully reminiscing on happier
times with his family. Just like the
visuals, the sound design is utilized to benefit the story but also to ground
the world without feeling too gimmicky or illusionary to the creative choices
made.
With the growing use of technology integrated into our lives
by transplanting it onto social media, comes a new way and fear to commit
crimes that are potentially more harmful than having it occur in real
life. This is what makes Searching a timely and engaging film
made, with a personal story that showcases how manipulative and dangerous
technology has made our ability to connect with each other and the secrets we
place unknowingly online. It also
conveys a compelling and refreshingly emotional journey for John Cho as he
works through the lies and deception to find his daughter, giving the standard
yet well told mystery story weight to it through the depth and care given to
the script as well as the actor himself.
It does falter in its ending as well as the way it gets to that point
being a bit incredulous to accept but the emotional core and how it holds the
story together is what allows for viewers to truly forgive the moments of
contrivances and the ending of the story.
This is one case you will want to watch unfold before your eyes.
Score **** out of *****
Searching is a unique, fully realized conceptual crime
mystery thriller that builds on its predecessor in the techno driven POV and
builds an engaging, emotional story within the gimmick. It has evolved the concept as another,
legitimate means to convey a mystery that could have worked on its own, without
the gimmick itself. The cast while
personal and intimate in size, are absolutely great in their respective roles
with the standouts being Debra Missing as Rosemary Vick and the character arc
she goes through but the MVP being John Cho, displaying his emotional
versatility and commitment to a character that is mostly on his own. The style and technical qualities to the film
really add to the story and world conveyed here despite some issues with plot
points being contrived in the second half and the climax might not be as
satisfying as getting to it. However,
the film is a first-rate thriller and one that conveys a different approach to
telling a familiar but well told mystery that hooks you in and keeps you
invested until the revelations take the viewers by surprise, in an engaging and
entertaining way.
