Movies that take place mostly or even exclusively on computer screens are not exactly a novelty anymore. In the last 20 years I have seen such productions in different genres – from romantic comedies to science fiction epics. The compression of reality on the screens of laptops, mobile phones or sophisticated devices of the future presents filmmakers with technological and script challenges, and at the same time gives them the opportunity to search for original solutions that change the classic ways of telling a story and bringing it to the screens. In an increasingly virtual world like the one we live in, these tendencies are natural. Made a few years ago, ‘Searching‘ (released in 2018) is a surprisingly mature film considering the fact that it is director Aneesh Chaganty‘s debut film. The intelligent use of graphic space is not the only asset of this film, which uses the opportunity to bring up some interesting issues about the relationships between parents and teenage children, generations separated not only by age but also by technological skills in adapting and using virtual spaces in behind the apps on the screens.
David Kim, the hero of the film, is a widower and the single father of a teenage girl. His wife died less than two years before and her absence means loneliness for the man but especially an enormous loss for the daughter left without maternal support. Communication between a busy and chronically tired father and a girl dealing with the loss of her mother and the problems of age does not work very well. When the girl disappears, the father becomes totally involved in the search. Rummaging through the files in the girl’s laptop he will discover that he knew very little about her and that almost everything he knew or believed about the girl is wrong. The search in virtual spaces turns into a process of discovering the personality and the soul of the missing teenager.
The first part of the film is the one I found to be the strongest and most original. It takes place almost exclusively on the computer screen. Unlike other films of the genre, in ‘Searching‘ applications on computers and phones are not presented as a threat, but represent an essential part of the world in which the film’s heroes of all generations live. Father and daughter exchange messages and dialogue on video likely more than in person. It is not good or bad, these are their lives, like the lives of hundreds of millions of people in the contemporary world. Searching in the sense of the ‘search’ function on search engines becomes a gradual discovery of the daughter’s real person. From a moment on, the story turns into a detective plot, the search becomes a routine search for a missing person, and although there are no plot surprises here either, the film becomes an ordinary detective story. The virtual world is – at least in this film – more interesting than the real world.
John Cho, an actor I know from many films on the small and big screens, dominates ‘Searching‘ with an impressive acting performance in the role of the father. The screen-in-screen formula forces him in the first part of the film to appear as a framed figure, as we see ourselves or see others in video conferences. It’s a challenge that the actor meets with skill and professionalism, evolving from oblivious father to anger, through anxiety and then despair, to a determination to uncover the truth about his daughter’s fate. Michelle La as the daughter and Debra Messing as the cop woman who takes on the case of the missing girl also create supporting roles worth mentioning. In the end, even if the film does not fulfill all the expectations raised by its first part, the viewer leaves with the feeling of having watched an interesting and well-made thriller. Which is not small achievement either. I’m a bit worried about the news that a sequel is in the works, but maybe this time my fears will be disproved. I won’t avoid it.