Searching Review

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.