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Over the years, we've seen several talented directors and screenwriters take the idea of technological horror and thriller stories and use it to create interesting, thought-provoking, and enjoyable movies for the big screen. As movies like Unfriended (2015) and Searching (2018) made waves at the box office on a shoestring budget, technological thrillers have proven to be a genre-defying experiment. As a follow-up to Searching, Missing, directed by Nick Johnson and Will Merrick, is the most recent entry on the list. However, the two plots are unrelated, making the franchise something of an anthology series.
The whole narrative of Searching, which had a budget of just $880,000, was shown on computer and mobile screens. At the worldwide box office, it brought in over $75 million, booking huge profits. Missing is bringing a new story in the same style and given the popularity of the novel idea that Searching brought to the big screen, the latest installment in the anthology earned similar acclaim as the first film. In his review of the film, Collider's Ross Bonaime said "Like Searching, Missing shows the surprising beauty of the technological age, but also the dangers of this virtual world." Here's how you can go about watching the film.
Is Missing Available To Stream Online?
As of today, May 20, 2023, Missing is now available to stream on Netflix. Thanks to a deal that was struck between Sony Pictures and Netflix back in April 2021, the streaming service has the rights to stream all of Sony's newest films after their theatrical and PVOD window ends. This means Missing will be joining other recent Sony films such as A Man Called Otto, Whitney Houston: I Wanna Dance With Somebody, and The Woman King on the streaming service.
If you aren't a Netflix subscriber, Missing is also available to rent and purchase digitally on-demand. You can use the links below to find the film on your preferred platform.
When Did Missing Come Out?
Missing had its world premiere at the Sundance Film Festival on January 19, 2023. The film then opened in theaters across North America on January 20, 2023.
Missing will be released exclusively in theaters when it premieres. Ahead of the premiere, Collider also hosted a free early screening of Missing with a Q&A session on January 10, 2023.
Is Missing Available on Blu-ray and DVD?
Missing was released on Blu-ray and DVD on March 28, 2023. You can check out the links below to see where the film is available to purchase.
Watch the Missing Trailer
The first trailer for Missing was released on November 16, 2023, by Sony Pictures Entertainment. The trailer teases more of the intensity and inventive storytelling that made the previous movie such a hit. Searching was a masterwork of visual storytelling and fans expect to see a preview of the same in Missing. The trailer introduces the new protagonist of the film, and we see the roles are now reversed with a child searching for her parent, as opposed to the dynamics in Searching. Storm Reid's character, June, a disobedient and technologically aware adolescent, is speaking to her less tech-savvy mother, Grace (Nia Long), over face time. Grace informs her kid that she and her boyfriend, Kevin (Ken Leung), are taking a trip to Columbia. She never comes back. The trailer teases the mystery behind her disappearance and shows June frantically scouring her laptop screen for clues as she searches for her lost mother.
What Is Missing About?
The official plot synopsis for Missing by Sony Pictures reads as follows:
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.
The story starts when June's mother vanishes while on vacation in Colombia with her new lover. June's search to find answers about her mother's disappearance is hindered by international bureaucracy. While stranded in Los Angeles, thousands of miles away from where her mother was last seen, June ingeniously makes use of every piece of cutting-edge technology at her disposal to try to locate her mother before it's too late. A suspenseful mystery written by the editors of Searching, Missing will have the fans questioning how well one actually knows the people closest to them.
More Techno Mystery Thrillers Like Missing That You Can Watch Right Now
Searching (2018): Aneesh Chaganty made his feature directorial debut with the 2018 mystery thriller Searching. The movie, which plays entirely on laptop and mobile screens, centers on a father named David Kim (John Cho), who enlists the aid of Detective Sergeant Rosemary Vick (Debra Messing) in his search for his missing 16-year-old daughter Margot Kim (Michelle La). A local investigation is launched after Margot vanishes, and a detective is assigned to the case but after 37 hours pass with no leads, David makes the decision to look in the one place no one has searched yet—where all secrets are now kept—his daughter's laptop. In an ultra-modern thriller, David must find his daughter's digital traces before she vanishes forever. The story is conveyed through the communication tools we use on a daily basis, which adds to the thrilling aspect.
Unfriended (2015): Timur Bekmambetov and Levan Gabriadze's eerie computer-screen horror movie Unfriended was released in 2015. The first full-length movie made in the Screenlife format, it takes place solely on a computer screen. The story kicks off as the six high school friends are video chatting one night when one of their classmates, who committed suicide exactly one year prior, sends them a message on Skype. They initially think it's a joke, but when the girl starts spilling their darkest secrets, they understand that they are dealing with an alien force that wants to see them dead.
Cam (2018): In the paranoid horror film Cam (2018) by Daniel Goldhaber and Isa Mazzei, a camgirl discovers that her identity has been stolen by a doppelgänger, who takes over her web channel and otherwise seems determined to ruin her life. The mystery sets in as Alice (Madeline Brewer), an ambitious camgirl, awakens one day to find that someone with her exact appearance and demeanor has taken over her channel on FreeGirlsLive. Even the studio is an exact reproduction of Alice's studio in her home and the story proceeds to get creepier with each passing scene. This enigmatic horror film uses technology to reveal horrific happenings and create an intense thriller story.