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SEARCHING
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Searching, at least on paper, is like any other missing child thriller that you might have seen - films like the recent Prisoners, or the excellent (and rather undiscovered) TV series, The Missing. But the challenge it has set for itself is to tell its story entirely from within computer screens - laptops, smart phones and CCTVs.
John Cho plays David Kim, a single father whose teenage daughter Margot goes missing one night. He calls up the police later than usual because he is led to believe that she'd gone on a trip with her friends without informing him. But soon, his worst fears come true. Margot is gone. And because of the wasted time, the police are already on the back foot.
To aid them in the investigation, David wants to help in whatever way he can, so he begins going through Margot's computer, looking for clues that could point to where she could have gone. He scours her Facebook page, scrolls the entire length of her Instagram account, tracks her messages and even checks her bank account. His search leads him to the dark corners of the web, and throws up enough quality red herrings to make Agatha Christie proud.
At any given moment in Searching, there are several tabs open on David's laptop - which essentially function as different shot options available for director Aneesh Chaganty to choose from. Unlike Spielberg or Shyamalan, who are both known for their dynamic camerawork, Chaganty must find new ways in which to direct the audience's attention to where he wants it. So he uses cursors and desktop alerts in the same manner as David Fincher would use a dolly. Music is usually what's playing on YouTube, and essential exposition is delivered with the help of Google Maps. It's ingenious, really.
One scene of online sleuthing is particularly exciting. It takes David to his late wife's old Windows 98 system and ends with him trying to crack Margot's password. While the tragedy of losing a child is something most of us can only imagine, the frustration of having forgotten a password and the subsequent process of setting a new one is one we can all relate to.
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