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Searching Sequel Missing Early Reactions Praise Twisty Online Thriller
Early reactions to Missing reveal that the screen life thriller is packed with twists and turns. The film, which is coming to theaters on January 20, is a sequel to Searching, a movie that presented its entire storyline in a found footage-style format, displaying only what can be seen on a computer screen. The original film, which was directed by Aneesh Chaganty, starred John Cho as a man searching desperately for his missing daughter with the help of a detective played by Debra Messing.
Coming off of early screenings a week ahead of the premiere of Missing, certain media notables have had the opportunity to share their spoiler-free thoughts on the film online. In general, their thoughts have been overwhelmingly positive. Many have praised the film's twists and turns, as well as the central performance by A Wrinkle in Time and Euphoria star Storm Reid, who must hold the entire film together more or less on her own as the central lead. Check out select reactions below:
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Everything We Know About Missing
Although she has held notable roles in projects including The Invisible Man and The Suicide Squad, Missing will be the first starring showcase for Reid as the main lead of a film since 2018's A Wrinkle in Time, showing off a more mature side of the actress, who plays June, a young woman searching for her missing mother. However, she isn't the only notable cast member in the film. The ensemble cast of figures who her character interacts with online include The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air's Nia Long as Grace, a woman with many secrets, and Rush Hour's Ken Leung as Kevin Lin, Grace's boyfriend who she was vacationing with when she disappeared.
The reason the film, which was directed by Nick Johnson and Will Merrick, takes place online is because Grace's disappearance took place in Colombia, so distance and international red tape prevent June from going to find her. Although there may be Easter eggs from the original 2018 Searching hidden within the film, it has been confirmed that Missing tells an entirely standalone story, so audiences shouldn't expect for there to be much of a link between that film's kidnapping plot and this new story. Considering the fact that the previous film took place entirely on American soil, that makes perfect sense.
How Will Missing Compare to Searching?
With these strong early reactions, Missing has every opportunity to turn in a strong critical and commercial performance. However, it is unlikely that the film would match the extraordinarily positive reaction to the original, which has a Certified Fresh rating of 92% on Rotten Tomatoes and made $75.5 million worldwide off a budget of $880,000, mirroring the incredible profits of found footage predecessors like The Blair Witch Project. However, even if the new film makes half that box office take, it could still run a huge profit if they kept the budget similarly low.
