Our take
When Big Tech and trolls have all but villainized the internet, it’s hard to forget that good can come out of it sometimes. But Missing makes a case for its usefulness by making it the sole means by which an 18-year-old tries to find her missing mother. Played by Storm Reid, June Allen is endlessly creative in the digital sphere, which makes sense given she’s from a generation that grew up with cutting-edge technology. She makes use of geotrackers, earth cams, and even digital watches to get ahead of the authorities, who for their part, are tied down by legalities and red tape. Missing shows us the potential of the internet, what it can do if used resourcefully and for good, and it’s a refreshing take given the (understandably) many films that are fearful of tech.
Missing embraces all this newness and builds a solid thriller out of it, making it a worthy and possibly seminal entry in the screenlife genre.
What it won
Oscars
1 win · 3 noms
Cannes
2 wins
Golden Globes
5 noms
BAFTA
2 wins · 5 noms
WGA
1 win
Nat. Board of Review
1 win
NYFCC
2 noms
The story
When her mother disappears while on vacation in Colombia with her new boyfriend, June’s search for answers is hindered by international red tape. Stuck thousands of miles away in Los Angeles, June creatively uses all the latest technology at her fingertips to try and find her before it’s too late. But as she digs deeper, her digital sleuthing raises more questions than answers... and when June unravels secrets about her mom, she discovers that she never really knew her at all.
Elsewhere
"It pulls off the [same] impressive narrative highwire act but includes a couple twists too many."
— Christy Lemire
Streaming arrival
Who picked it
Renee Cuisia is the lead curator at A Good Movie to Watch. In her spare time, she likes to watch K-dramas and analyze them to death. She's also seen You've Got Mail one too many times but is still convinced it's one of the greatest films out there.
