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Searching

  • 2018
  • PG-13
  • 1h 42m
IMDb RATING
7.6/10
188K
YOUR RATING
POPULARITY
4,034
1,501
Searching (2018)
After his 16-year-old daughter goes missing, a desperate father breaks into her laptop to look for clues to find her.
Play trailer1:11
15 Videos
99+ Photos
Psychological ThrillerSuspense MysteryDramaMysteryThriller

After his teenage daughter goes missing, a desperate father tries to find clues on her laptop.After his teenage daughter goes missing, a desperate father tries to find clues on her laptop.After his teenage daughter goes missing, a desperate father tries to find clues on her laptop.

  • Director
    • Aneesh Chaganty
  • Writers
    • Aneesh Chaganty
    • Sev Ohanian
  • Stars
    • John Cho
    • Debra Messing
    • Joseph Lee
  • See production info at IMDbPro
  • IMDb RATING
    7.6/10
    188K
    YOUR RATING
    POPULARITY
    4,034
    1,501
    • Director
      • Aneesh Chaganty
    • Writers
      • Aneesh Chaganty
      • Sev Ohanian
    • Stars
      • John Cho
      • Debra Messing
      • Joseph Lee
    • 1.3KUser reviews
    • 255Critic reviews
    • 71Metascore
  • See production info at IMDbPro
    • Awards
      • 6 wins & 10 nominations total

    Videos15

    Trailer #2
    Trailer 1:11
    Trailer #2
    Official Trailer
    Trailer 2:24
    Official Trailer
    Official Trailer
    Trailer 2:24
    Official Trailer
    IMDbrief: What You Missed in 'Bird Box'
    Clip 3:20
    IMDbrief: What You Missed in 'Bird Box'
    Searching (Vignette)
    Featurette 1:16
    Searching (Vignette)
    Searching: John Cho On Combining Technology With Classic Storytelling
    Featurette 0:30
    Searching: John Cho On Combining Technology With Classic Storytelling
    Searching: Debra Messing On Her Reaction To Reading The Script And Story
    Featurette 0:33
    Searching: Debra Messing On Her Reaction To Reading The Script And Story

    Photos169

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    + 162
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    Top cast99+

    Edit
    John Cho
    John Cho
    • David Kim
    Debra Messing
    Debra Messing
    • Detective Vick
    Joseph Lee
    Joseph Lee
    • Peter
    Michelle La
    • Margot
    Sara Sohn
    • Pamela Nam Kim
    Alex Jayne Go
    Alex Jayne Go
    • Young Margot (5 yrs)
    Megan Liu
    Megan Liu
    • Young Margot (7 yrs)
    Kya Dawn Lau
    Kya Dawn Lau
    • Young Margot (9 yrs)
    Dominic Hoffman
    Dominic Hoffman
    • Michael Porter
    Sylvia Minassian
    • Mrs. Shahinian
    • (voice)
    Melissa Disney
    Melissa Disney
    • Isaac's Mom
    • (voice)
    Connor McRaith
    Connor McRaith
    • Isaac
    Colin Woodell
    Colin Woodell
    • 911 Operator
    • (voice)
    Joseph John Schirle
    Joseph John Schirle
    • Jonah Emmi
    • (voice)
    • (as Joseph K. Schirle)
    Ashley Edner
    Ashley Edner
    • Margot's Friend #1
    • (voice)
    Courtney Lauren Cummings
    Courtney Lauren Cummings
    • Margot's Friend #2
    • (voice)
    • (as Courtney Cummings)
    Kenneth Mosley
    Kenneth Mosley
    • Margot's Friend #7
    • (voice)
    Miss Benny
    Miss Benny
    • Margot's Friend #11
    • (voice)
    • (as a different name)
    • Director
      • Aneesh Chaganty
    • Writers
      • Aneesh Chaganty
      • Sev Ohanian
    • All cast & crew
    • Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

    User reviews1.3K

    7.6188.1K
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    Featured reviews

    9musiqliblessed

    Excellent storytelling!

    I was just utterly entertained and delighted by this film. Because it was just SO well done.

    It's innovative cinematography was not presented at the sacrifice of a well-crafted and compelling story. Unlike the Blair Witch Project, these filmmakers put as much time and care into their story as they did with this method of filming. They could have honestly filmed this in the traditional way and it would have still been a worthwhile movie outing. This was indeed a solid work of art.

    Even with so many moments absent of dialogue or even human characters to watch, the film was always forward moving. The suspense and mystery continuously builds until the very last moments.

    There were so many twists and turns, they made it impossible to truly predict what was going on. At one point we predicted one thing that did unfold but we were almost immediately surprised by another new turn.

    There was a story, there was substance, there was intrigue, there was heart. And there wasn't a thing presented in the film that did not contribute to the story.

    They made my heart break and my heart leap. Made me hold my breath and exclaim with surprise. Made me smile...even made me reminisce a little (due to my particular age).

    John Cho delivers yet another excellent performance. It was a refreshing role to see him play. He just broke my heart the whole film. I just wanted to reach out and hug him!

    It was also extremely refreshing to see Debra Messing in this type of role. Nothing I'd EVER seen her do and she was just great.

    Great cast, in general, tho very small, given the story was told so exclusively from the father's perspective.

    I really could just go on and on about this movie that I had oddly never heard of...very undoubtedly a hidden gem in the theatres right now.

    I 100% recommend taking a trip to the theatre for this one.
    10Reviewer64646

    Finally a decent tech movie

    This film got it right in the technology department. All real websites, technology and actual examples of how you can search the internet to find information. They had to get this right and as an avid tech enthusiastic i was pleased that they did.

    The storyline was well written, had twists and turns that i did not expect. Decent movie!
    8ymyuseda

    Excellent Actor And Actrees In This Film

    Rating 8.3/10 Excellent thriller film directed by Aneesh Chaganty and written by Chaganty & Sev Ohanian. The seriousness of a father trying to find his missing 16-Year-Old daughter with the help of a police eetective. This film will make you wonder what will happen for next plot. Excellent acting performance by John Cho. The moral of the story is do not trust to anyone, if not will be disappointing you. Worth to watch !!
    8jg_1977

    Compelling story, engaging presentation

    I just got out of seeing Searching, a "screen life" movie written and directed by Aneesh Chaganty, and I can't overstate how much I enjoyed it. Why I liked this movie can be summed up quite succinctly with four simple words: compelling story, engaging presentation. Allow me to elaborate.This movie has an incredibly well written story. It starts with a heartfelt sequence of home movies that endears you to all of our main characters in minutes, quite similar to the beginning of Up (2009). It then unfolds a mystery, layer by layer, until you are quite literally on the edge of your seat, in anticipation for the final reveal. At no point along the way does it ever really slow down or get dull. Everything that happens is meaningful and contributes to either the narrative or the tone. A big part of the story working so well has to do with the excellent performance from John Cho. The entire premise of the story hinges upon his performance as he is the emotional core of it all. Without him, this movie might not be nearly as good. In addition to having a tight, well-written screenplay, Searching also is presented in an incredibly fascinating way. Chaganty uses the restrictions of "screen life" to his favor by creating inventive and new ways to present information. In doing so, he truly draws the viewer into the perspective of John Cho's character as everything is essentially shown from his point of view. This heightens both the tension as we learn things at the same time he does, as well as makes his character that much more empathetic. 2018 has had a pretty stellar summer in terms of the quality of movies that we've seen, and Searching thankfully doesn't break the trend. It wouldn't surprise me if this becomes the sleeper hit of the summer. It's quite good. Do yourself a favor and go see it!
    8Jared_Andrews

    Best Yet of the "Computer-Screen" Movies

    A story told entirely through a character's laptop screen - it's an increasingly popular gimmick that's now been done enough times that it can no longer be called fresh. But, thankfully, this is best execution of the style to date. Aneesh Chaganty dazzles in his directorial debut, displaying a mastery of the medium, crafting a compelling film narrative told entirely through someone's laptop activity.

    The movie comes out hot with a mostly nonverbal tale of love and family that's shades of 'Up' and nearly as affecting. An emotionally warping scene like that to kick things off lets us know immediately that we're in good hands. The music choices give a strong signal of this as well. I firmly believe that music choices in the opening minutes of movies are as reliable an indicator of the movie's quality as you'll find.

    This moving love story tells that us the family is close, or, at least they were before mom died. Now dad David (John Cho) is raising his daughter Margot (Michelle La) as well he can, but they seem a bit distant. When Margot mysteriously goes missing, he finds out just how little he knows about his daughter.

    He and police detective Rosemary Vick (Debra Messing) scramble to find out what happened to Margot - was she kidnapped, catfished, or did she runaway? The work they put in to unravel this mystery is frantic and exhausting. They track Margot's car on traffic cams, they contact all of her Facebook friends, and they dig for anything of use they can find on her laptop. The level of detail displayed in the investigation is so thorough that it's as much an education in snooping as it is entertainment (not that parents should follow these steps to snoop on their own kids!)

    It's a constant thrill ride throughout, even as conventional storytelling techniques seep through the cracks at the end when the laptop screen gimmick proves too challenging. One answered question leads to five more unanswered, and a few false endings and twists will leave you breathless. In movies, there are twists and then there are TWISTS. "Searching" has TWISTS. Enjoy.

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    Storyline

    Edit

    Did you know

    Edit
    • Trivia
      For the German, Spanish, French, Russian, Italian and Portuguese versions of the movie, every TV/phone/computer screen was recreated in its respective language, as well as every typing sequence, keystroke by keystroke.
    • Goofs
      While Margot is driving in her a Camry, a sunroof is seen above her head. When the Camry is pulled out of the lake, there is no sunroof on that car.
    • Quotes

      David Kim: I didn't know her. I didn't know my daughter.

    • Connections
      Featured in Projector: Searching (2018)

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    FAQ

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    Details

    Edit
    • Release date
      • August 31, 2018 (United States)
    • Countries of origin
      • United States
      • Russia
    • Official sites
      • Official Facebook
      • Official Facebook (alt)
    • Language
      • English
    • Also known as
      • Buscando...
    • Production companies
      • Screen Gems
      • Stage 6 Films
      • Bazelevs Production
    • See more company credits at IMDbPro

    Box office

    Edit
    • Budget
      • $880,000 (estimated)
    • Gross US & Canada
      • $26,020,957
    • Opening weekend US & Canada
      • $388,769
      • Aug 26, 2018
    • Gross worldwide
      • $75,462,037
    See detailed box office info on IMDbPro

    Tech specs

    Edit
    • Runtime
      1 hour 42 minutes
    • Color
      • Color
    • Sound mix
      • Dolby
    • Aspect ratio
      • 1.85 : 1

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