The 2023 slate of movies is loaded with everything from new Marvel releases to highly-anticipated horror flicks.
The newly released “Missing” might be one of the best movies of the year.
A classic thriller provides the audience with suspense, anxiousness and surprises.
Nick Johnson’s “Missing” hits all those chords.
“Missing,” which was released in theaters on Friday, stars actresses Nia Long as Grace and Storm Reid as June, a mother-daughter duo. The pair’s relationship strains after June’s father dies early in her childhood from cancer.
The film jumps a few years forward to when June is in high school and Grace is dating someone new. After Grace and her new boyfriend, Kevin, who is played by Ken Leung, go missing after a vacation to Columbia, June takes matters into her own hands to find her mother from her laptop in Los Angeles.
“Missing” puts the mind through a complete rollercoaster of emotions. One minute the viewer thinks they figured out what happened to Grace and the next they are back at square one.
The various twists and turns are what makes “Missing” so compelling. It seemed like every minute there was a different clue that changed my theory of what happened to Grace.
The film is a follow-up to Johnson’s 2018 movie “Searching” which uses the same filming techniques and follows the search of a missing San Jose teen whose father tries to uncover her location.
A strength of the movie was how it was shot. Similar to “Searching,” the film is shot entirely through the lens of a laptop camera.
June routinely uses social media apps to find clues of Grace’s disappearance, something about watching her click through different tabs and apps on her MacBook was somewhat soothing.
The overall arc and personality of June’s character was one of my favorite aspects of the movie.
She is a Gen Z, woman of color who could care less about what anyone thought of her or the way the outer world perceives her. June is focused on one thing and one thing only: finding her mom.
As a lifelong Nia Long fan, I was very impressed by her portrayal of Grace in this film. Though she only gets a fraction of screen time, she leaves a profound impression on the audience.
As the movie unravels, we see who Grace really is and why she raised June the way she did. Long does an incredible job portraying herself as a total enigmainigma throughout the movie.
Reid and Long’s chemistry was a big reason why the movie drew me in. June and Grace’s relationship was definitely complicated, but their connection felt genuine.
They went through ups and downs and tussled over June’s typical rebellious teen actions.
The overall theme of not taking those that care for you for granted is often overplayed, but “Missing” gave its own unique twist that I thought was interesting.
I would be lying if I said I didn’t call my own mother after I walked out of the theater.
The only thing “Missing” was that there were definitely some plot holes that I had questions about after the movie ended.
Some scenes made sense and others I was still stuck on.
But overall, I was able to tune out those errors because the movie kept me engaged until the very end.
“Missing” encapsulates everything one could want out of a thriller. Drama, twists, turns and betrayal are just some of the characteristics that make this movie great.
Johnson has now created a string of thrillers that are bonafide box-office hits. It will be interesting to see what is next for this series and for Johnson’s career going forward.
