Desaparecida

I had to pause the movie at one point, and thought about 45 minutes had passed. I was actually at the 68-minute mark when I paused, so I think that's a sign it was doing something right as a fast-paced and engaging mystery/thriller film.

It's the kind of thing that almost has too many twists, but you kind of just have to go with it, and they never frustrated me too much. It was a tiny bit exhausting, but I respect how hard they committed to making things as unpredictable as possible.

Like with Searching, the presentation in Missing is mostly fun. As far as negatives go, though, I can't really go into details without spoilers, but the presentation in the final act felt a bit off to me at points. The filmmakers had certain limitations to deal with thanks to the modern-day found footage format, but they stretched it a bit near the end there. You go from one big twist to "oh, I guess they have to show everything this way now," and it's a bit much.

Otherwise, this is pretty good stuff.

This movie had no right to go this hard and be so entertaining. I'm likely the demographic for this type of movie, as it takes place entirely on screens and the lead is just a bit younger than me, but I typically find "fully online" movies to be boring, but this movie was exceptional. The clues are laid out but in a way where they are not super obvious, though the reveals with the clues later on are believable. The acting in this film was also much better than I was anticipating. An issue with movies like this are that there is no HD camera, so the visual aspect of acting is difficult to pull off, but the voices alone make the conversations work, and the visuals aren't too bad either. The movie works so well because of its emotional core and because of Javi, the best character. He seems like a genuinely nice dude who was played expertly by his actor, and I was rooting for him and June the whole movie.

I genuinely enjoyed 90% of the film. The idea of having this young woman sleuthing through little more than the apps on her phone and laptop was quite well presented. So much so that, frankly, the scenes set outside that computer setting looked uninspired and slapdash, namely any of the cable news programming and police news conferences. The silly little things we all experience with the internet and social media were solidly, often amusingly, displayed (my favorite perhaps being the slight hesitation deciding whether a front edge of a bumper constitutes part of a yellow school bus in a CAPTCHA picture).

And sure, there are numerous plot holes, mainly due to trying to maintain the mystery (the who?, how?, why? Only come into question after the reveal). But all this can be ignored, as the movie was genuinely engrossing for the majority of the picture. Until... the reveal, which, no spoiler, is sadly predictable. And while I don't entirely object to the nature of the resolution itself, the movie oddly changes pace into a rather pedestrian imitation of an action-thriller. I really wish it had been able to maintain its core atmosphere, and not descend into the ordinary.

This is in the same vein as "Searching", a first person mystery/thriller, where almost every scene is of a person sitting at a computer or looking at a phone. If this alarms you, don't let it. It is very well put together, enough notes are put on the "screen" so even the very computer illiterate should be able to follow.

The story is a young girl, who loses her beloved father, and is raised by her now single mother without any other family. The mother disappears while on vacation and the daughter uses her computer skills to find clues. There are many twists and turns which will keep your interest. Not sure if all of the computer navigation is terribly realistic, but it's easy to suspend your disbelief, and I advise you to.

Now this gonna have all girlfriends thinking they private investigators 🙄

Usually, I'm not a big fan of screen-life movies, but Missing effectively displays scenes that don't make it feel like the typical one.

June Grace ( Storm Reid), a teenage girl, investigates her mother's ( Nia Long) disappearance through various technological means, Such as Ring, FaceTime, and Instagram.

The movie gets better as it progresses, building an entertaining sense of thrill as the mystery comes alive with two refreshing plot twists. The film does an adequate job of misdirection. I enjoyed the different perspectives and angles used through various camera approaches, which didn't allow me to focus on the fact that this is viewed through a screen. The movie was active. The portrayal of online activity always being traceable was displayed well.

Verdict: If you like crime mysteries, then you'll enjoy this movie; enjoyable and has a decent enough plot twist to make you feel like it is worth your time. Storm Reid did well!

Grade: C+ Thrill: B Plot: B Execution: C.