In a constantly evolving and changing technological world, creative minds in filmmaking are always looking for new ways to tell stories. Many of these include using new camera technology, but what if that new technology was the camera? What if you could tell an entire feature-length story entirely on somebody's computer screen? That's a question that's been asked by horror films like Unfriended (2014) and its sequel Unfriended: Dark Web (2018). Now that so much of society is used to working remotely, this method of storytelling wasn't just accepted in the past few years, it was encouraged by studios, leading to even more similar content like the satirical comedy series Staged (2020-2021).
One of the most acclaimed examples of screen-sharing cinema is Searching (2018), telling the story of a bereaved father, played by John Cho, whose daughter has mysteriously disappeared, eventually searching through her computer to discover clues to her whereabouts. Following the film's surprising success, earning over 75 million dollars worldwide off of a budget of only $850,000, the creative mind behind the film, Aneesh Chaganty, began work on a sequel, initially titled Searching 2. Now given the new official title of Missing (2023), this new story will follow a brand-new batch of characters, this time about a child finding their missing parent instead of the other way around. To find out everything we know so far about the next installment in the Searching series, read below to find out.
Watch the Trailer for Missing
The first trailer for missing introduces the new protagonist of the rebellious, tech-savvy teenager, June (Storm Reid). We first see June having a face-time call with her less-technologically mother, Grace (Nia Long), who tells her daughter her plans as she's about to go on a vacation to Columbia with her boyfriend, Kevin (Ken Leung). This gives June the perfect opportunity to have the entire house to herself and have a chaotic house party with all her friends at school, before waking up to realize she forgot to get the place cleaned in time to pick up Grace and Kevin. However, that ends up being the least of June's problems, as, by the time she gets to the airport, Grace and Kevin are nowhere to be found.
June then files a missing person report and even gets in contact with an agent of the U.S. embassy in Columbia (Daniel Henney), who tells June to just sit tight and wait to hear from the proper authorities. June doesn't want to wait that long and begins a search of her own to discover what exactly happened to her mother in Columbia. As she dives deep into the rabbit hole of her mother's technological footprint, June begins to discover more than she ever could have expected, like Kevin's criminal history as a registered felon and the revelation from the embassy agent that June's mother may have even changed her name. When she gets a knock at June's front door, it becomes abundantly clear that this is something a lot more complicated than a simple missing person case.
Is Missing Releasing on Streaming or in Theaters?
Though the film takes place almost entirely on a computer or cell phone, Missing will be following the same trend set by its predecessor and will be released exclusively in theaters. This ultimately isn't too surprising given that the last film, thanks to its extremely minimal budget, made over 70 million dollars in profit at the box office, so making even less than half of that will lead to an incredible payday for Sony Pictures Entertainment. Speaking of Sony, the production company has worked with a number of streaming services on both original and previously distributed content, so it's anyone's guess as to if and when Missing will receive a streaming release.
What is the Release Date for Missing?
The search begins for June's missing mother begins early next year on Friday, January 20th, 2023, exclusively in theaters.
What is the Plot of Missing?
The official plot synopsis for Missing reads as follows:
From the minds behind Searching comes Missing, a thrilling roller-coaster mystery that makes you wonder how well you know those closest to you. When her mother (Nia Long) disappears while on vacation in Colombia with her new boyfriend, June’s (Storm Reid) search for answers is hindered by international red tape. Stuck thousands of miles away in Los Angeles, June creatively uses all the latest technology at her fingertips to try and find her before it’s too late. But as she digs deeper, her digital sleuthing raises more questions than answers...and when June unravels secrets about her mom, she discovers that she never really knew her at all.
Who is Making Missing?
Aneesh Chaganty is still involved with the series, though this time he won't be directing and will only be writing and producing this time around. This time it will be co-directed by the editors of Searching, Nicholas D. Johnson and Will Merrick, both of whom will be making their feature directorial debut with Missing. Johnson and Merrick also penned the screenplay for the film with a story by Aneesh Chaganty and co-producer and frequent collaborator of Chaganty, Sev Ohanian (Run).
The rest of the crew consists of composer Julian Scherle (Princess of the Row), cinematographer Steven Holleran (The Land), editors Austin Keeling (The House of Pine Street) and Arielle Zakowski (Wolfgang), production designers Kelly Fallon (All About Nina) and Lauren Paonessa (Butt Boy), and costume designers Sona Rita Guekguezian (Blue Ribbons) and Lindsay Monahan (Room 104). Timur Bekmambetov (Profile) a pioneer of the Screenlife format, is producing the film.
Who is Starring in Missing?
Don't expect John Cho or any of the other cast members of Searching to return, as Missing is an all-new story and as such, has an all-new cast of characters. Storm Reid (A Wrinkle in Time) leads the cast as protagonist June, far from her first performance as a leading actor. The impressive supporting cast that joins her consists of Nia Long (47 Meters Down: Uncaged), Ken Leung (Old), Joaquim de Almeida (Desperado), Daniel Henney (Criminal Minds), Thomas Barbusca (Big Time Adolescence), and Amy Landecker (A Serious Man).