Searching **** (2018, John Cho, Debra Messing, Michelle La, Joseph Lee) – Movie Review

Co-writer/ director Aneesh Chaganty’s 2018 mystery thriller Searching is gimmicky – but a success! He pulls off the trick of having the entire movie unfold on a computer with considerable flair and style, retaining mystery and tension expertly. Of course it helps that he has a good story to tell. How rare that seems to be now!

John Cho stars as desperate father David Kim in Searching.

John Cho stars as desperate father David Kim, who bit by bit discovers that his 16-year-old daughter Margot (Michelle La) has gone missing, and breaks into her laptop to look for clues to find her, with the help of police Detective Vick (Debra Messing).

Cho and Messing are both excellent, helping to crank up the high anxiety. But the main triumph must be that of inventive director Aneesh Chaganty.

Michelle La plays the 16-year-old missing daughter Margot in Searching.

Even so, the film might have been even better played out in the real world. However, this time, a movie that plays out in the digital world proves very welcome. Many have tried this, and few have succeeded, mainly because we don’t want to leave out home computer and have a night out at the cinema with a computer on the screen.

This time, that is not the case. Aneesh Chaganty is on the case. His film has a smart and modern feel to it, though it is still telling an old-style thriller story that Hitchcock would have been entirely happy with.

It is brilliantly clever the way it all plays out on a laptop. If you are searching for an old-style thriller in new-style disguise, Searching is for you.

© Derek Winnert 2018 Movie Review

Check out more reviews on http://derekwinnert.com