Hello!
It’s been a while. I missed out on an entire month of movie blogging, and I have MoviePass to blame. Their daily policy changes and frequent blackouts have caused my movie-watching tendencies to shift dramatically for the worse. It might be a bit harder to review movies right as they come out, but I’ll try. I have my annual plan activated until the end of the year, so I may jump ship to another service like AMC Stubs A-List, or Sinemia after it expires. As much of a headache MoviePass has been, I can’t say I didn’t see it coming, nor do I harbor any ill will towards them. They’ve provided an invaluable service for the few short months that I’ve been with them, and I loved every single moment. RIP MoviePass, you were a necessary sacrifice for movie enthusiasts worldwide.
Searching was a movie that I did not expect to be so engrossed in. If you’ve heard of the film, you’ve probably heard of its gimmick—the fact that the entire movie is played out from a computer screen. You’d think that in its 1 hour 42 minute run time, this unconventional type of film making would get old or tiresome. I believe the horror film Unfriended had a similar format, and it was met with more than moderate success. But with a thriller? Looking at a computer screen for almost two hours with no occasional jump scare to hold you over until the next story beat? Sounds kind of gimmicky and boring, no? Well, you’d be wrong.
The biggest factor I considered when reviewing this film was whether or not it benefited from being made in this unconventional format. The answer is a resounding yes. I 100% think that the movie was better because of it, and that if this was made in the style of a regular film, it would not hold nearly as much staying power as it does here. The movie does a great job imitating our web-browsing habits as we switch back and forth between windows, attempt ridiculous internet searches in hopes of finding anything of worth, and just the overall struggles of internet security and social media. Everything is so expertly utilized, and you get that impression immediately from the opening sequence.
In terms of performances, this is easily John Cho’s best so far. Last year, I wrote a review for the film Columbus, in which I thought that Cho was the one actor weighing the film down. It wasn’t a bad dramatic performance, but it didn’t seem as convincing as I had hoped. However in this film, he totally nails the role of the anxious and desperate parent in search of his missing daughter. This film is almost entirely about him, and through the clever uses of face time and Skype sessions, you get just enough screen time to see the anxiety in his character unravel into utter despair. Debra Messing also does a great job in this film as the police investigator. I think this might be the only thing I’ve ever seen her in apart from channel surfing through Will and Grace as a kid.
This film has a deep and effective exploration into parenthood, and how many different ways caring for our loved ones can manifest itself. There are certainly wrong ways to do it, but there is also no one absolute way to do it right. These themes are explored in a very subtle but powerful way, and that aspect had me thinking about the film the most after the credits rolled. It also speaks to loneliness and how big of a crutch social media has been in our lives, as our dependency on it grows with each passing year.
To say anymore would be entering spoiler territory. All I have to say is this: give this film a chance if your main concern is that it feels gimmicky. It’s not. It takes the premise of solely being filmed on a computer screen and really runs with it. I do think that the first act takes a bit of time to pick up, but it definitely pays off in the end. This movie would not have been nearly as good if not for the fact that it was filmed the way it was. The reactions you get from seeing this movie are almost exclusive to the way we have a eureka moment from the click of a URL link, or to an image popping up on a webpage. While one could argue that its reliance of that trick can be to the overall film’s detriment, I think that it just goes to show that the process of film making still has plenty of room for undiscovered creative storytelling mechanics.
Grade: B+/84
No Trailers. 