Searching

A thriller mystery that keeps your heartbeat up and down with multiple red herrings and a tiny dash of relieving humor to get you through the suspense. What works so well here are a number of things. Searching does not follow the typical formulaic outline of a mystery thriller. It uses a laptop to tell its story. It intertwines many puzzle pieces. And it contains a plot that hinges on a loving father who is convinced that his daughter would not just run away, even though clues, like her not taking piano lessons for the past six months and using that cash her dad gave her for them to pay for something mysterious, don't resonate with the daughter he knows.

Character Development: Excellently executed. The dad, David Kim (John Cho) plays the endearing father who is admiringly patient as he sifts through his daughter's laptop, tracing her digital history to uncover answers. But as the 37th hour of the detective's case arrives, Mr. Kim's sense of urgency turns up a notch. Desperation and a deep desire to find his daughter fuel his own investigation amid doubts of who his daughter was and how well he actually knew her mixed with a barrage of strangers in his daughter's life who may or may not be involved with her disappearance.

Pacing/Writing Quality: The director's (Aneesh Chaganty ) decision to film the entire movie through a laptop may seem unwise, yet it works because it sets exactly the right pace. Being "on" tends to exhibit things like urgency, distraction, and heightened awareness, and all of those things come alongside to effectively steer Mr. Kim's inspection and intensify the corners we keep turning with him.

Content (language, sex, & violence): The cleanest thriller. One use of the F-bomb, but this is shown in an unsent text message and its use is non-offensive. There is no nudity, no sex, nothing graphic shown. The only violence depicted appears in two scenes: in a tussle between the father and another character and in a scene where a character swings at the father, though this is shown from a distance and is very brief. The only blood shown is the dried blood on the father's chin, after he is hit.

This is a film that makes you care about humanity, shocks you with its final reveal, and hits home with an optimistic ending.

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