Rating summary

Movie		4.5
Video		4.0
Audio		4.5
Extras		3.0
Overall		4.0

Missing Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Martin Liebman April 7, 2023

Missing is another in the small, but growing, "screen" movie genre that takes place entirely within the boundaries of a modern computer screen. The film is not a direct follow-up to 2018's Searching but it is, in every sense, a spiritual successor. That film featured a less than tech-savvy dad trying to find his missing daughter through the cluttered rabbit trail of the digital world, while Missing flips the story and features a technologically adept teenage girl piecing together the mystery of her missing mother. Both films are very well done, and this one is particularly sharp, holding to a series of intense narrative details and constantly evolving twists and turns that redefine the movie in almost every minute.

June Allen’s (Storm Reid) father has been dead for years, but she is still mourning his loss. Her relationship with her overprotective mother Grace (Nia Long) is strained, especially now that Grace is dating a new boyfriend, Kevin (Ken Leung). Grace and Kevin are taking a trip to Colombia, which frees June to party with her friends. But on the day of her mother’s scheduled return, neither Grace nor Kevin debark from the plane. As June slowly pieces together the clues, and in a desperate effort to get on-the-ground intel in Colombia, she enlists the help of an online gig worker named Javier (Joaquim de Almeida) who helps her to put together a much larger truth about her missing mother that will redefine everything June knows about her life and her past.

Missing, like Searching, reveals the full saturation of the digital lifestyle and how a tech-savvy individual can tap into the power of technology to piece together a puzzle that even a decade ago might have remained unsolved. Connecting to another part of the world in mere moments and skillfully following various digital breadcrumbs allows June to gradually put the truth of her mother's disappearance into focus, though certainly she does so one step at a time. One reveal leads to another, and another, and another, and it is often in her slick manipulation of her online world that allows her to discover clues and move on to the next app, camera, or profile history that opens the world before her eyes. The movie is very slick in terms of how the writers have put it all together, skillfully but also painstakingly taking today's easy access technology and putting it to work in a logical way that is also dramatically inclined for maximum moviemaking impact.

As the story evolves and the surprises keep coming, the film never takes its foot off the gas. Even when some of the key reveals don’t come as much of a surprise, because they appear to be telegraphed ahead of time, the movie then just as quickly rewrites the story further and further, winding up as a revolving door of reveals and revelations that keep June pushing on and the audience on its toes. One of the most interesting parts of the movie, especially in light of Searching -- which was made only a few years ago -- is just how evolved the technology is from that film to this film. While both are essentially the same thing, they are both only in the same ballpark; Missing is very much advanced and cutting-edge, and it demands a character like June at the helm who instinctively knows how to navigate the complex networked world. Storm Reid is excellent in the lead role, capturing the emotional range and internal strife while also believably playing a character who truly knows her way around the computer. It's a good thing, though, that everyone in her life uses passwords that are guessable through context clues and common sense rather than those long strings of gobbledygook that browsers tend to recommend, because then there wouldn't have been a movie. Still, this is solid stuff that's every bit as good and satisfying as Searching.

Missing Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

The 1080p transfer is fine within the visual context, which is made of sharp desktop icons, various computer windows, and computer graphics. Video is usually at the mercy of the quality of the source, like a compressed Facetime feed or noisy low light security video footage. But the graphics are sharp and pleasing with crisp lines and abundant color throughout the various windows, computer buttons, and the like. This is nontraditional video, but it looks great, even when that means some natural compression issues in video calls and the like.

Missing Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

The DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 lossless soundtrack is very good. It's loud and intense, which in a way breaks the "on-screen" illusion, but the amplified audio certainly raises the dramatic tension, mystery, and excitement in the film, giving it something of a Hollywood experience without the usual visual style in support. The film opens with some substantial musical cues, and such beefy and surround-heavy musical elements are commonplace throughout the film. The 5.1 track certainly pushes the speakers rather hard, and it does so while maintaining excellent clarity and spatial excellence. Ambient content is mostly minimal, and dialogue remains clear, even if it's naturally a bit tinny or flat as it plays on various Facetime calls or other areas where clarity is not meant to be absolutely lifelike.

Missing Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

This Blu-ray release of Missing includes a nice assortment of extra content. No DVD copy of the film is included, but this release does ship with a Movies Anywhere digital copy code. This release also ships with a non-embossed slipcover.

• Storm Reid and the Challenge of Missing (1080p, 5:34): Looking at the qualities and characteristics Reid brought to the role to solidify the story and amplify the film's energy.
• The Screens that Rule Our Lives (1080p, 5:10): Making a "cinematic" movie out of nothing but computer desktop windows, all of which were custom animated for the movie. It also looks at how all of the most recent and relevant social media and computer apps are used in the film.
• Hunting for the MISSING Easter Eggs (1080p, 8:28): Looking at some of the content that is in frame, but not the focus of the frame.
• Misdirects, Online Crimes and the Social Media Mystery of Missing (1080p, 6:53): Using classic genre motifs in a social media world, differences between this film and Searching, the film's protagonist, and more.
• Making a Frame Timelapse (1080p, 0:48): Putting together the complexities of a computer screen for the film.
• Deleted Scenes (1080p, 9:07 total runtime): Included are Alternate Character Intro, June; Down the Rabbit Hole of Crime; Piecing Together the Mystery; and Alternate Villain Demise Animatic.
• Filmmaker's Commentary: Producer Natalie Qasabian and Writers/Directors Will Merrick and Nick Johnson discuss the film, both the story and the technical details about its making and working with a digital palette.
• Previews (1080p): Additional Sony titles.

Missing Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Missing builds an intense and exhilarating story that takes familiar genre elements and redefines them in the cutting edge digital arena. The film is fast paced and relentlessly engaging, offering ample twists and turns that don't even leave the audience time to guess. It's just a whirlwind of content that evolves almost second-by-second. Sony's Blu-ray is very good all-around, delivering healthy video and excellent audio, supported by a good amount of extras that are also of worthwhile interest. Highly recommended.