The Missing Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		4.5
Video		3.0
Audio		3.5
Extras		1.0
Overall		3.0

The Missing Blu-ray Movie Review

Don't let this release disappear from your wish list.

Reviewed by Martin Liebman March 24, 2015

Several years ago, a video game titled Heavy Rain was released to the PlayStation 3. It was a narrative-based mystery in which players controlled one of several different figures in the pursuit of a kidnapped boy named Jason, focusing heavily on the dark and rainy time after the abduction but interweaving a few morsels of story prior to the disappearance as well. Moody, meaningful, filled with a number of unique twists and turns, and featuring a startling end revelation, the game redefined interactive entertainment and stood -- and still stands today -- as one of the most tightly woven, deep, and fascinating "missing persons" stories of recent years. The Missing tells a similar story of a missing boy and the quest to find him both in the immediate aftermath of the abduction and years removed from it. It's every bit as richly created and immersive as Heavy Rain, made for a different medium, certainly, but sharing the similarities of plot and feel but also of narrative excellence and an uncanny ability to lure audiences in for a long haul journey of revelation and emotional upheaval for the family of the missing boy and the greater world around them.

Where is he?

The Hughes family -- father Tony (James Nesbitt), mother Emily (Frances O'Connor), and son Oliver (Oliver Hunt) -- are vacationing through France. One evening, Tony and Oliver visits a local pub and become caught up in the frenzy of a televised soccer match. Tony looks away for a moment and soon after realizes Oliver is gone. He frantically searches for the boy but he's nowhere to be found. The authorities are called and a search ensues, but clues are virtually nonexistent. Eight years later, Oliver is still missing and Tony and Emily have split. Emily has since remarried and Tony returns to the scene of the crime, armed with a single clue: a photograph depicting someone wearing the custom scarf his boy was wearing the day he disappeared. Tony contacts a now-retired detective, Julien Baptiste (Tchéky Karyo), who previously worked the case. Together, they pursue the available evidence and, even eight years after Oliver was taken, draw closer than ever before to the truth.

The Missing's basic construction sees it flip through time, both to the immediate aftermath of Oliver's disappearance and to the present, some eight years after the fact. The transitions are seamless. The show smartly manages the shifts with an expertise that makes it maintain flow, structure, and both the gut-wrnching heartache of the past and the broader sense of gloom and mystery that define the present. Never is the audience yanked out of a moment or disoriented by the shifts. Most obvious in terms of context clues are placards that set the scene ("2006" or "present day") and, more interestingly, the somewhat more dreary present landscape and many subtle, yet largely obvious, changes in character dynamics along the way. The lead actors show physical wear, emotional tear, and a generally more somber and deeply wounded way in which they carry themselves in the present scenes, contrasted with the frenetic hunt and growing hurt but still largely shocked, uncertain, and discombobulated life they lead in the disappearance's immediate aftermath. The cast is terrific in finding the right tonal balance for both ends, not only giving the characters, but the larger dynamic, a more believable and understandable flow and feel.

While The Missing does move through the course of its eight-episode season as one would expect -- with slow reveals, small clues that unravel the larger plot, frenetic searches and slowed-down bouts of regret and remorse, and cliffhangers urging the audience to come back for more, and as quickly as possible -- it maintains a freshness and accessibility, helped by a seemingly perfect semi-compact length that gives it room to breathe and explore but not so much room as to frequently create a disconnect or, worse, meander for the sake of filling up a time slot. This is precise, delectable storytelling that unfolds like a good mystery novel. The pace is consistent, the narrative is tight, the characters are well defined, and the series never betrays the audience's trust, insults its intelligence, or jumps to dramatic conclusion without at least tangible, if not concrete, evidence pushing the protagonists forward. It's smart, engrossing television that may be more or less bite-sized entertainment compared to television seasons sprawling out at three times the length but The Missing proves just as engrossing and enjoyable as most anything out there of this nature.

The Missing Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

The Missing's 1080p, HD video-sourced transfer is by no means a disaster, but it is littered with annoying little bits that lessen its overall quality. Details are fair but never reach beyond that. Basic facial, clothing and structural details satisfy HD requirements but never to that razor-sharp, lifelike, tangible sort of texturing found on the best film and, now, video presentations. Mild to severe smearing is evident along some frame edges. Colors favor a mild dreariness but green vegetation, clothes, signage, and other more colorful bits are, much like the supportive details, adequate but not exceptional. The image suffers through lightly problematic blacks that are both a hair too pale. Minor banding traces along a few backgrounds. Slight-to-heavy aliasing plagues much of the presentation, whether along the straight edges of a road sign seen when Tony pulls off to the side of the road to answer a phone call at the beginning of episode one or near that same episode's end when he's standing in a garage. A heavy bout of the eyesore can be seen on buildings at the 15:06 mark of episode one. It's frequent enough to be a problem but no so heavy, usually, to wreck the image. Noise is a frequent intrusion, too, and the occasional jagged edge is visible. In short, this 1080p presentation gets the job done but without any style and with some technical hiccups along the way.

The Missing Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

The Missing arrives on Blu-ray with a DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 lossless soundtrack. The presentation isn't particularly dynamic. Supportive sound effects never quite find a perfect balance. Cheers and a general din at a pub are loud and aggressive but doesn't truly immerse the listener into the environment by focusing on the front channels, leaving the backs to linger and trickle out information. Likewise, pouring rain remains largely the property of the front channels. Passing traffic, light natural outdoor ambience, and other, scattered effects do push through the back at times. Score is frequently light and lingers in the background with a more aggressive, heavier, sharper, opening title music. This is a fairly dialogue intensive program, however, and the spoken word dominates the proceedings. Dialogue does enjoy well defined articulation and a natural center placement.

The Missing Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

The Missing contains its three throwaway supplements on disc two. Optional episode recaps are included.

• The Missing: Time Changes All (1080i, 2:02): A look at the show's two timelines and the manner in which time can change people.
• The Missing: Transformations (1080i, 1:59): A brief plot recap, character basics, and the show's dueling timelines.
• The Missing: Behind the Scenes (1080i, 2:32): Another piece that looks at the two timelines, plot basics, and character overviews.

The Missing Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

To say much more about The Missing would be to betray the enjoyment that is the experience of watching it develop through the eight episode storyline. It finds a perfect, believable pace that largely leaves behind trite action bits and focuses instead on characterization and the slow unraveling of the greater mystery around the people at the center of the disappearance. It's enveloping and enthralling, unfolding like a good book rather than a sluggish program that needs to fill a time slot that can't always be bothered to tell a lean, coherent, cohesive story. Mystery fans definitely need to check it out. Anchor Bay's Blu-ray release of The Missing isn't a technical masterpiece. Video is decent but flawed. Audio is fair. Supplements are practically nonexistent. Recommended on the strength of the program.