It’s A Must, Not A Miss

Social media is freaking out about one of the first mystery movies of the year, “Missing,” released on Jan 20. The movie features a teenage girl named June (Storm Reid) whose mother Grace (Nia Long)  goes on a trip to Colombia with her boyfriend Kevin (Ken Leung) and never returns. Throughout the movie, June and several others are on an online hunt to find where and how her mother disappeared. “Missing” has some of the biggest plot twists yet and leaves viewers baffled at the outcomes of the film. 

One of the most impressive aspects of “Missing” is how directors Nicholas Johnson and Will Merrick continuously keep the plot changing, leaving viewers left in complete shock. In the beginning of the movie, it seems as if Grace went on a trip with her boyfriend, Kevin, to Colombia. June thinks that she is going to have the best week of her life, throwing parties at her empty house with her friends, until she goes to pick her mother up, and she never returns home. At this point, the audience is under the impression that this is just like any other missing persons case, until the movie takes a drastic turn. The more June finds out, the more intense the film becomes. The fantastic plot set the rest of the movie up for great success. . 

The key feature of the movie was how the entirety was filmed on June’s laptop or her smart watch. Instead of the typical types of cinematography in most movies, Johnson and Merrick had a different approach. The movie is filmed through June’s Facetime app, which is how you are able to see what is happening at every point in time. While on the search to find her mother, she uses several different websites and apps to hack into emails and online accounts to gain information that could help her. This whole process is filmed from the point of view of June looking at her laptop. At certain points, the film even shows security footage through her laptop which is where some of the most intense scenes occur. This was by far the best way to capture this movie because of the interactive feel and everything happening right in front of viewers. This was definitely one of the best parts of “Missing,” but neither the plot nor the cinematography would have been possible without the spectacular acting from the cast. 

The main character June, played by Reid, does an amazing job at convincing viewers how truly scared and worried her character is about her mother’s safety. During several intense scenes, Reid does a flawless job of portraying her emotions and how frightened she is. Another actress who does a perfect job of playing her role is Long, who plays Grace. While she isn’t in very many scenes due to the storyline, Long does an unmatched job at showing how genuinely scared she is during her violent scenes. Without Long and Reid’s excellent acting, “Missing” wouldn’t be anywhere near as exceptional as it is. 

Overall, Johnson and Merrick do a phenomenal job at creating a plot which always leaves viewers wondering what will happen next, finding a new and creative way to film and selecting an exceptional cast. The plot continuously changes and has twists and turns that leave viewers shocked at what happens next, while the cinematography is a positive change from that of all other movies and the acting tops the whole movie off. For viewers who are looking for an attention grabbing mystery that will leave you thinking about it for days after, “Missing” is a perfect fit.