Aneesh Chaganty (original film's writer/director) did not return to the chair or for the screenplay, but he did co-create the story and editors for Chaganty's two other feature films co-wrote/directed this screencast of a flick. To the unaware, everything on screen has to be created completely from scratch which is impressive in its own right, but to make it flow into an engaging film is something else entirely and they have been two-for-two so far.
On top of this, I think the editing/dynamic showed a lot of lessons learned from the first film, and the story better complemented these aspects as well. For one, the supporting actors were much better than the first film (whether on screen or just on call). For another, Searching centers around a dad computer surfing in a fish-out-of-water way, which although was funny it was good to watch a teenager do it this time around and know what she was doing every step of the way. It made the pacing more frantic for sure, but it allowed more things to happen overall.
They also kept a score in the film, knowing this isn't a completely found footage kind of concept and embrace a lot of the cinematic elements that they can throw in. I'm wishy-washy on this, because as these films provide a lot of verisimilitude you can lose some of it when they remind you that you're watching a movie. I felt like keeping the score in made some moments feel less "realistic," but it definitely kept things pretty intense as well. I think this was definitely more intense than Searching overall, but again it may have been at the cost of overall realism as they had to reach for certain plot points at times.
What is nice about these films is every answer can be found if you look hard enough. It is great attention to care and detail that not every mystery film does, but since these are completely created from scratch these films pre-plan it out very well.
So far I can easily claim this as my favorite film of 2023! I won't say the novelty has worn off seeing this style of film again though, and I will watch these as often as they make them... but for Searching to do it the first time (despite the fact that Unfriended already existed) as well as they did does speak for something that perhaps Missing didn't replicate fully. Both of them contain a great emotional core though and are very engaging watches, and whether or not you see Searching first I highly recommend that you give Missing a shot! (unless you didn't like Searching, in which case you can skip out on it, as this does not break any new ground)
On top of this, I think the editing/dynamic showed a lot of lessons learned from the first film, and the story better complemented these aspects as well. For one, the supporting actors were much better than the first film (whether on screen or just on call). For another, Searching centers around a dad computer surfing in a fish-out-of-water way, which although was funny it was good to watch a teenager do it this time around and know what she was doing every step of the way. It made the pacing more frantic for sure, but it allowed more things to happen overall.
They also kept a score in the film, knowing this isn't a completely found footage kind of concept and embrace a lot of the cinematic elements that they can throw in. I'm wishy-washy on this, because as these films provide a lot of verisimilitude you can lose some of it when they remind you that you're watching a movie. I felt like keeping the score in made some moments feel less "realistic," but it definitely kept things pretty intense as well. I think this was definitely more intense than Searching overall, but again it may have been at the cost of overall realism as they had to reach for certain plot points at times.
What is nice about these films is every answer can be found if you look hard enough. It is great attention to care and detail that not every mystery film does, but since these are completely created from scratch these films pre-plan it out very well.
So far I can easily claim this as my favorite film of 2023! I won't say the novelty has worn off seeing this style of film again though, and I will watch these as often as they make them... but for Searching to do it the first time (despite the fact that Unfriended already existed) as well as they did does speak for something that perhaps Missing didn't replicate fully. Both of them contain a great emotional core though and are very engaging watches, and whether or not you see Searching first I highly recommend that you give Missing a shot! (unless you didn't like Searching, in which case you can skip out on it, as this does not break any new ground)