Missing (2023) Movie Review

A genre we haven’t seen too much of on the big-screen in recent years has been the mid-budget thriller. In 2018, we got the excellent found-footage, computer point of view (POV) film from director Aneesh Chaganty and starring the excellent John Cho, ‘Searching’, The film received overwhelmingly positive reviews and grossed well at the box office. Now in 2023, nearly five years on, we have received another film done in the same style. This time the film follows a daughter played by Storm Reid who is searching (no pun intended) for her mother, who has gone missing overseas with her new partner. The film takes various twists and turns throughout, but that brief plot synopsis summarises the narrative without giving much away. Like Searching before it, I thoroughly enjoyed Missing.

‘Missing’ is a well-crafted thriller for the digital age.  It does a great job at utilising the technology to creatively tell a missing persons thriller. This is a story we have seen plenty of times before, however, the ability to tell this story from the point of view of our main character June (played by Storm Reid). This narrative device provides us with so much detail without having characters explain their situation. It’s a slice of life approach and works very well, especially for gauging characters' thoughts, emotions, and feelings. I find it to be effective and a great way of allowing the audience to connect to the characters on a deeper level. A big reason this works so well is Storm Reid’s performance as June, her recent work in The Last of Us, Don’t Let Go and The Invisible Man has been notable, however her starring role here is among the young actresses best work. She sells the believability of the situation and feels completely helpless. As the situation progresses and the circumstances become more dire, Reid perfectly encapsulates the growing fear, concern, and dread perfectly. She’s fantastic here.

The real strengths of the film lie in the way each scene is conducted. The film spares no expense in ensuring that the real licenses are used for Apple, Facebook, Google, YouTube, Netflix and Zoom, all applications that are used by hundreds of millions of people across the globe. This small, yet notable addition to the film adds to the believability of the situation, so often films don’t go this extra mile, using fake systems and applications as substitutes which can completely take you out of the film. The film also changes the bit rate of the cameras as well, which also adds to the level of authenticity in the film. Nothing ever feels clean, and Hollywood(ised), it all feels real and grounded. I am more than happy with more stories being told in this fashion. It has become its own sub-genre, but due to effective technique, attention-to-detail and fantastic leads in both films respectively, it's definitely a viable option.

Missing was simply fantastic. Its short runtime, effective use of technology and amazing lead with Storm Reid, makes this a memorable thriller for the modern age. The film never tries to over-complicate things, keeping a minimalistic approach to its storytelling.  A must watch for thriller genre fans. You can grab your copy on DVD today from Sanity’s amazing online store here.

Christopher Pattison from Oz Movie Geek wrote this blog post for Sanity. See more from Chris here