Searching (2018)

Director: Aneesh Chaganty

Story: Aneesh Chaganty and Sev Ohanian

Cast: John Cho, Debra Messing, Michelle La

Music: Torin Borrowdale 

Time: 102 minutes

Bottom-line: An intense, edge-of-the-seat thriller; scarily realistic.

In a time when we are dominated by data, social media and the internet, the looming question has become, “How much data is out there? How can it be used? And will it be used for doing good?” Searching is a thriller film that gives us a glimpse of the power of social media and the internet in the context of a girl who goes missing. The film stars John Cho and Debra Messing in the lead roles, with Michelle La supporting them.

 

Cho as David

San Jose: David Kim (Cho) and his daughter, Margot (Michelle) have a strained relationship ever since the death of his wife, two years ago. One night, Margot goes to her friend’s house to study, and calls David three times, but he ignores the calls in his sleep. David is unable to reach Margot the next morning, but starts to panic only when he calls her piano teacher and finds out that Margot had cancelled classes 6 months ago, but was still taking money from David. David decides to file a “missing person” case. Using her laptop and logging into her social media accounts, David realises that Margot was up to something far more sinister than it appeared. Detective Vick (Messing) confirms the last known location of Margot as just outside the city, suggesting that she may have run away. Who are Margot’s true friends? Who are the faceless people she has been talking to over the internet? And what more can David find out about his daughter from her data?

 

Michelle La as Margot

The highlight of the film is, undoubtedly, the visual style. Every scene in the film is shown in a screen, and through the viewpoint of a camera – a webcam, or a CCTV camera, or a video camera etc. (exactly like the episode Connection Lost of Modern Family – S6: E16). From googling to chatting, from untyped messages to trending tweets, the camera follows all of David’s activities on various screens and devices. The dialogues and audio track also fit in perfectly, to match the screen activity or the situation (the sudden crescendo accompanying every plot twist is pretty eerie).  

 

Messing as Detective Vick

The other reason why Searching is powerful is because it is so real. The story deals with stuff you and I use every day: Facebook, email, and various other forms of communication. It is so easy to get fooled by a faceless person on the other side of the screen, and we don’t realise how harmful our data is unless someone uses it against us. There’s also the concept of how heartless people can be when you don’t face them in person but rather just their electronic personality on screen, as shown in the film. The film once again shows how social media can work for you or against you – the moment David attacks a “potential kidnapper”, the news is all over the internet, humiliating and disparaging him for his actions, without any mention of the full story.

The storyline is solid – within 102 minutes, we are shown enough backstory about the characters, every step in the search process, and the subtle hints which could lead us to the “solution” as to what actually happened. The plot twists pop up at regular intervals, each one more powerful than the last. John Cho wins our hearts as the pitiable father of the missing girl – traumatised by his wife’s death and troubled by his relationship with his daughter and brother. Debra Messing’s role is also commendable.

Searching could be a wake-up call for many of us who are unaware of the potential/existing dangers of the internet and social media, but it is surely a thorough entertainer for all. Full of suspense and heart-racing moments, this modern-day thriller is one you should not miss.

My Rating: 4.5/5

Rotten Tomatoes rating: 93%