Geek Review: Searching

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Hashtags. In geek language, this type of metadata tag allows social media users to apply dynamic, user-generated tagging, which then makes it possible for other users to search for content about specific topics and people. This ability to search the internet forms the premise of this movie.

Director Abeesh Chaganty’s movie is not just about hashtags though. It is about what the digital world is capable of. It is about the traces each and every one of us leaves behind on the Internet. And more importantly, it is a heartfelt story about a father searching for his lost daughter.

Presented entirely from the point of view of smartphones and computer screens, this whodunit follows a father (the ever-likeable John Cho) as he scours the worldwide web to gather clues to solve the mystery of his missing teenage daughter. As time runs out, he receives help from a police detective (Debra Messing from TV’s Will & Grace) who is a doting parent herself.

This digital screen-based approach of telling a story is not new; Unfriended (2014) and its 2018 sequel are two other movies that were shot almost entirely through the screencast of a laptop. But before you judge this as a gimmicky filmmaking method, let us assure you this movie stands out from the crowd with its powerful and relevant messages. The crime thriller has already been recognised with accolades like the Alfred Sloan Prize and the NEXT Audience Award at this year’s Sundance Film Festival.

The movie grips from the get-go. Through a series of computer screens, you see photos, videos, email messages and calendar appointments documenting the birth and childhood of a little girl. The mouse is navigated by Dad who is reminiscing his daughter’s early milestones. Thanks to composer Torin Borrowdale’s brilliant music score, you share the family’s joy.

Then everything becomes a total wreck when Mom is struck down with terminal illness. This sequence is like the grittier, social media version of Up’s tear-jerking montage.

This is just a precursor for things to come. As the story progresses, there are more twists and turns in this well-paced and brilliantly-executed suspense thriller without making you scorn in disbelief.

You will also see the ugliness of human nature rear its head on social media in some poignant sequences. Nothing unfamiliar here, you tell yourself.

Cho and Messing are excellent in their roles, especially Cho’s heartbreaking portrayal of a father desperately searching for his lost daughter. The supporting actors deliver commendable performances too. Michelle La is empathetic as the girl who has gone missing, while Joseph Lee has strong screen presence as Cho’s caring brother.

Despite being about the cold digital world, human emotions run high in this movie.

Fortunately, there is hope at the end. This is a timely reminder about how humans are inexplicably intertwined with technology. Is this a bane or boon? You decide.