David Kim becomes desperate when his teenage daughter Margot disappears and an immediate police investigation leads nowhere. He soon decides to search the one place no one else has - Margot's laptop. Hoping to trace her digital footprints, David contacts her friends and peruses her Internet activity for any possible clues to her whereabouts.
Searching surfs the silver screen as a feature debut for writer-director Aneesh Chaganty and is the latest entry in the emerging genre-wave of screen-life films. As Hollywood continues its rigorous search for the next big thing, the screen-life format has presented itself as a promising prospect. These stories are showcased entirely from the perspective of a digital device and follow the protagonist as they tweet, text, and browse the web. Anything you can see or do on a smartphone, tablet, or laptop is fair game... Searching isn't the first film to be made in this mold and it certainly won't be the last, but Searching differentiates itself from the rest of the pack by focusing on unraveling a mystery.
I realize the approach may sound gimmicky, but it's actually quite engaging. Every click and scroll David makes is subsequently registered in the viewer's mind as the audience racks up as many clues as they possibly can. Believe it or not, but watching someone surf the web for nearly two hours surprisingly doesn't get stale. Thanks to a sentimental opening and an exceptional lead performance, the search for Margot is one which you'll be riveted by and emotionally-invested in. The journey naturally has its twists and turns which cause David to undergo his own fair share of ups and downs, but you'll be with him every click of the way. It's an incredibly immersive experience, and while that can certainly be attributed to all who worked on the film, John Cho's powerful performance, Aneesh Chaganty's attentive execution, and the script penned by Chaganty and Sev Ohanian make one hell of a difference in the grand scheme of things.
Occasionally, Chaganty is restricted by the format so things conveniently have to appear onscreen in order to advance the plot, but these instances are few and far between. For the most part, David's Internet activity feels authentic since he instinctively would scour every webpage imaginable in hopes of uncovering a clue to his daughter's location. To say any more would risk spoiling the outcome, but it should be noted that the cast does a fine job across the (key)-board.
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