Rating summary

Movie		4.5
Video		4.5
Audio		4.0
Extras		3.0
Overall		4.0

Searching Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Martin Liebman March 5, 2019

Although the digital world has "brought people together," the reality is that the rise in online communication, friendships, and relationships has in some ways created a colder, more distant, more impersonal world. It is perhaps the most obvious, yet most ignored and misunderstood, juxtaposition of its time, maybe of all time. How can so much information, so many opportunities, so much personal intimacy pull and tug at a steadily fraying humanity? One of the answers is anonymity, another is secrecy, a third is intentional misdirection by way of anonymity and secrecy. One can argue that while the Internet has been the best thing to ever happen to man, it has also been the worst. Certainly a more thoughtful and thorough treatise on the positives and negatives of the 21st century's connected world is well beyond the purview of this review, but it's an important foundational note to begin a discussion of Searching, a stellar Missing Persons Thriller set entirely in the digital landscape. The film builds a compelling narrative through digital interactions, computer screens, photos, archived videos, maps, hidden cameras, anything and everything that can build a modern family, propel a story, and find the humanity in an entirely digital construct.

It's been some time since Pam Kim (Sara Sohn) died of cancer. She has left behind her husband David (John Cho) and her daughter Margot (Michelle La). David's and Margot's relationship has hit a difficult point. She is growing ever more distant despite his efforts to keep her close. She's in high school now, a sophomore in various honors classes, but she's living a secret life behind her father's back. One night, she tells her father that she's cramming at an all-night study session. But she never returns home and never shows up at school the next day. David's concerns mount when Margot does not return calls or texts. He eventually calls the police and finds himself working with Detective Rosemary Vick (Debra Messing). While she leads the investigation in the real world, David begins his own digging into his daughter's online presence. He quickly realizes that, at least in the digital world, she's not the person he believed her to be. As time desperately ticks and leads go nowhere, a father's frantic search becomes national news with his daughter's fate seeming more grim by the minute.

The film opens with a heartfelt montage that reveals one of the digital realm's best functions as an organizational tool for family memories. Director Aneesh Chaganty tells a family's story through photos and videos, a chronicle of the family's growth, togetherness, and its darkest moments when it is revealed that Pam is dying from cancer. Yearly "first day of school" photos previously depicting father, mother, and daughter are now minus one. It's an incredibly honest and moving open that, contrary to what is to come, is a showcase for the warmth and humanity that exists beyond the screen, reflected on the screen but not defined by the screen. Chaganty builds the entirety of the picture to follow on the computer screen, in some form or fashion, primarily featuring David, appearing in a video chat window, sorting through files, clicking onto websites, chatting with various individuals, and building a picture of his daughter's online life, scrutinizing every detail in hopes of finding a breakthrough that will lead him to her. David's investigation proves fruitful, at times, but the film is built on misdirection, as every clue seems to promise something important that never materializes or that proves its worth in a different way than is expected. The draw is in the search, but the movie's most compelling quality comes from its brilliant nontraditional construction that builds a modern cautionary tale within the seemingly endless reach of the online world.

The film largely plays out as a by-the-books investigation in strict terms of its story structure, but the presentation is obviously what sets it apart, that steadfast adherence to telling the entire thing on a computer screen. Even news breakaways are streamed, and a few key moments, such as police interrogations, are seen on a Quicktime player window. Perhaps the most amazing component in the movie, however, is the lead performance from John Cho, who shapes the character through his online interactions and appearances in various streams from various locations, but in a fairly novel approach his character is also defined entirely offscreen at times, when text boxes are shown to reveal what he is typing. But it's not just the message as it's sent that is telling. It's the messages that are typed and erased or edited or even hesitations that altogether offer a digital representation of the humanity behind them. Cho's physical work is quite good, too, capturing everything from the nuances of perplexity to the understandably out of control physical and emotional outbursts at several key moments in the movie.

Searching Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

With Searching taking place entirely on one digital screen or another, and primarily on Margot's computer, the 1080p presentation is not one that is going to turn heads. But like others before it built around similar visual limitations, it's nearly impossible to criticize the image for various "problems" that are absolutely inherent to the source and are vital to reproducing the movie as the filmmakers intended. Various digital streams and feeds are of course littered with lower resolution, poor colors, and significant compression-related macroblocking effects. Some fare better than others, depending on the quality of the stream but also the location (day, night, interiors, exteriors, and so on). On the flip side, on-screen graphics such as still photos, file folders, computer menu screens, web browser images, and the like are appropriately sharp and very colorful. The transfer largely defies traditional review critiques. It looks just fine, seemingly as-intended, and the various warts are not warts but rather faithful reproductions that recreate an authentic web experience. No complaints here.

Searching Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Searching features a DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 lossless soundtrack. The presentation is surprisingly active, with music thriving under the lossless encoding, featuring quality width and surround integration with carefully manicured clarity, though music is never so robust as to distract from the online constraints. Music plays large with high yield surround activity when a "breaking news" alert signals a major story reveal later in the film. Music in every form finds just the right level of complimentary balance, never drawing the listener away from the visual and narrative focuses but rather complimenting them. A few key sound effects are nicely reproduced. There's good depth and width to the Apple startup chime, and in a key moment in chapter five, the track goes silent save for light keystrokes and mouse clicks which sonically reinforce David's journey of digital discovery. Dialogue is clear and well defined, even if it's meant to sound muddled coming through a stream or over the phone.

Searching Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

Searching contains an audio commentary track and a couple of featurettes. A Movies Anywhere digital copy code is included with purchase. This release does not appear to ship with a slipcover.

• Audio Commentary: Co-Writer/Director Aneesh Chaganty and Co-Writer/Producer Sev Ohanian offer a wonderfully well spoken and highly informative breakdown of the story, the film's construction, performances, digital authenticity, and much more.
• Changing the Language of Film (1080p, 11:25): A look at the original short film concept, transitioning it to film, conveying human emotion through the digital world, the unorthodox editing process, film construction, Aneesh Chaganty's direction, photographic tools, digital creations for the film, and more.
• Update Username: Cast & Characters (1080p, 7:34): Cast and crew discuss the challenges of acting against a screen, photographic details, and more.
• Previews (1080p): Additional Sony titles.
• Searching for Easter Eggs (1080p, 6:14): The filmmakers reveal some subtly planted clues and other fun tidbits planted throughout the film. The supplement can be accessed only by pushing "up" and highlighting the "?" folder on the desktop.

Searching Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Searching is both a robust missing person Thriller as well as an inventive take on the slowly growing "computer screen' subgenre that has heretofore almost exclusively operated in the Horror realm. This is a tense, well-executed, and both visually and emotionally engaging movie built from the ground-up for the online age. Its Director, Aneesh Chaganty, is one to keep an eye on. Sony's Blu-ray delivers perfectly good video and audio presentations and boasts a few high quality and complimentary extras. Highly recommended.