Searching
(2018)He just missed his daughter's final call.
John Cho (Star Trek Beyond) is a father who breaks into his missing teenage daughter's laptop in order to discover the truth behind her disappearance in this thriller that takes place entirely on computer screens. This is the feature debut of Aneesh Chaganty, a former Google commercials creator.
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NEXT Audience Award, Sundance Film Festival
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Directed by Aneesh Chaganty (feature debut)
Starring John Cho, Debra Messing, Joseph Lee, Michelle La, Sara Sohn
Written by Aneesh Chaganty, Sev Ohanian
Out Now (On-Demand,
DVD or Blu-Ray)
On Demand, DVD & Blu-Ray
Available from 6 providers
Flicks Review
BY Tony Stamp Flicks Writer
So far the genre of movies set on computer screens is a shallow pool. Following on from Open Windows, Unfriended, and other curiosities, here’s one called Searching. It might sound like faint praise to say it’s the best of the form so far, but Searching works so well that its gimmick mostly disappears, and the style seems more like an inevitability of the way we live our lives online.... More
It’s a cracking mystery procedural, following John Cho as he races to find his missing daughter via internet sleuth work. The setting keeps adding novelties, and also provides some effective shorthand: you see everything Cho types out in his online conversations, including the things he second-guesses and deletes.
A movie that spends around 90% of its runtime honed on its protagonist’s face is a big ask for an actor, so it’s a good thing Cho is more than up to the scrutiny. He’s hugely likeable, and it’s good to see him getting these weightier roles later in his career. Deborah Messing is a more surprising choice, but she’s effective, playing against type somewhat as a dour police detective.
Searching definitely isn’t arthouse fare. It’s a broad crowd-pleaser, with some fairly corny emotional beats and an overly-assertive score. The runtime also risks sagging when the film squeezes in references to true crime shows and web culture. But when it’s orchestrating the central mystery it’s like a well-oiled thrill machine. Suckers for a good red herring will surely be pleased.
And let’s hope the overall quality of this one means good news for the future of the genre, because producer Timur Bekmambetov apparently has a whole slew of these ‘screen life’ films on the way. As Searching proves, the fledgling genre has an unexpected amount of potential.Hide
The Peoples' Reviews
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Searching
BY arlomclean superstar
Takes the 'Unfriended' concept and brings it to a whole new level. I remained gripped for the entirety of this film and is an extremely effective and well made thriller that is great to watch with a friend.
BY PercyM superstar
Its shocking, thought-provoking and relevant in its time; well-directed and performed with enough thrills to keep you on edge (most of the time).
BY BigWang69 nobody
This movie had me on the edge of my seat for the whole movie and the way it was portrayed was rather ingenious.
BY jtaylor41 nobody
This had to be one of the worst movies that I have ever watched. Where are the good movies?
Showing 4 of 4 reviews. See all reviews
The Press Reviews
Impressively, first-time filmmaker and former Google commercials creator Aneesh Chaganty has also made a real movie, the story of a family that morphs into a crime drama... Full Review
Cutting to the emotional core of what social media says about us, the result is as much a time capsule of our relationship to (and reliance upon) modern technology as it is a cutting-edge digital thriller. Full Review
The movie's arresting visual conceit has enough flexibility to sustain interest, even if the story's twists and turns sometimes feel excessively fiendish. Full Review
See it, then go home and wipe your hard drive. Full Review
Chaganty’s tab-toggling is pacy enough, but he gets pedantic about tying up unfinished digital business, and Unfriended’s pulse-raising wildness is beyond him. Full Review
The smart visual trickery lifts what might otherwise have been a fairly conventional thriller, but it also lets Chaganty say some interesting things about our online lives. Full Review
...speaks uncomfortable but necessary truths about the Internet age in a way that forces the audience to pay attention. Full Review
There is a great little whodunit story buried within to keep us guessing, and the performances are perfectly pitched. Full Review
...one of the more interesting and technically impressive films of the year so far. Full Review
Virtually the entire story is told via screens large and small and, with Chaganty's sharp direction, it's a brilliant way of creating both an intimate, voyeuristic feel and generating tension for the audience. Full Review
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