When Unfriended came out in 2014, I watched it and I wasn’t like, “oh, that was a great/horrible movie” but I was very intrigued by the style of the movie. “Filmed” entirely on a computer screen (or I guess, multiple computer screens), it was something new and different that, at the time, I thought hadn’t been done before. I’ve since watched The Den (2013) and again, I was kind of thrilled by this new methodology. Searching is a lot like that.
Searching branches out a little bit and includes news footage shots and CCTV shots, but everything is via ‘screen’ – nothing is overtly filmed in the traditional sense. To be honest, Searching was a breath of fresh air. John Cho was absolutely fantastic in every way and I am now blessed with a weird thing where I wish John Cho was MY dad. The film starts out with an emotional gunshot and keeps you thinking right until the very end. You’re never entirely sure what to believe and you’re never entirely sure what’s around the corner. I was kind of thrown off my game a little when Debra Messing was suddenly a cop because the whole movie, in the back of my mind, all I could think was there is no way that Grace Adler can pull off this detective thing.
Searching was packed full of red herrings and twists. It was exceptionally well thought out and while normally I leave a movie like this with plot holes forever emerging in my mind as I recount and process what I’ve watched, so far I can’t find any. This is a welcome surprise for me having just watched Hereditary last night and finding a very different result (more on that experience in a separate review). I can’t say that I was exceptionally surprised by the end result as there was an inkling there, but I was never at any point before it was revealed, fully aware that I had the right notion.
It was realistic, it was touching, and it really made a statement about what our lives our with the Internet dominating so much of our time and holding so many of our “secrets,” ready to be exposed if someone just… takes the time to look for them. I was thoroughly impressed and this is one I think I’ll add to my personal collection. Recommending you see this ASAP!
