Found footage has never been a genre I enjoy. When I watched The Blair Witch Project, I struggled to finish it and found the attempts at horror to be ineffective and dull. I have yet to see the films in the genre, like Cloverfield, that are allegedly good and utilize the concept effectively. I have, however, alongside The Blair Witch, seen the two Creep films, the first three of the V/H/S movies, and the first Paranormal Activity. Absolutely none of these stood out to me and were not enjoyable (except in a so-bad-it’s-good fashion in the case of Creep). An interesting offshoot from this trend has been the films that take place entirely on screens, called Screenlife. Films like Unfriended fit this category. I am even more inexperienced in the world of Screenlife than I am with found-footage films, but the two that I have seen surprised me with how enjoyable and engaging I found them. The only other film that I enjoy that is related to found footage is the short The Blair Thumb, which is an obvious parody featuring exclusively thumbs.
In every single found-footage film I have seen, I struggle to understand what is happening because of the shaky camera and the stylistically intentional but undeniably poor visual quality. These Screenlife films do not have this problem, and information and plot points are communicated clearly because of the constant presence of various phone/computer/watch screens. It also allows for twists and realizations to be communicated without unnecessary and cheesy dialogue. Instead, these films simply have the characters react, or even just have the screen communicate something with no reaction, and the audience is left to fill in the emotional blanks. This lack of over-explanation allows for an increased interactivity in the genre. So much of a typical found footage film is not only incomprehensibly shot but also confusingly communicated through the script and performances. I remember when Searching initially came out, I was interested because I love John Cho, but I anticipated it to be a pretty bad movie. It does go to show that talented filmmakers can save a concept that otherwise would not work ninety-nine percent of the time.
Searching and Missing are both written and produced by the duo of Aneesh Chaganty and Sev Ohanion, with Chaganty directing Searching. They also wrote and produced the less technology-influenced film Run, which Chaganty directed. I was not a fan of Run; the concept was weak, and I found the conflict to be too reminiscent of other, better films. And neither Searching nor Missing are the most original narratives, but their presentation and performances more than make up for predictable and contrived plotlines. This is what really sets these two films apart from other films in the same genre.
Missing was directed by Nicholas D. Johnson and Will Merrick, who were the editors for Searching. This was a great decision because of how conceptually reliant both films are on their editing and communicating information exclusively through the visuals. The scripts for both are fun thrillers, albeit melodramatic and somewhat contrived, but they are elevated through the editing and performances. In Searching, the lead is played by John Cho, a single father whose daughter goes missing, and he has to use her computer and phone to solve the mystery. Inversely, Missing follows a daughter, played by Storm Reid, whose mother goes missing, and she has to solve the mystery. Again, very standard thriller plotlines that are enhanced through their excellent presentation. Both of these films are connected, although very tangentially, with Reid’s character watching a true-crime episode based on the events of Searching. While it really does not pertain to the overall narrative, I enjoyed the critique of true crime media and how exploitative it can be. This critique is something that Missing handles much better and more subtly than something like the latest season of Black Mirror does.
I think Searching is definitely better than Missing, simply because of how unique it was at the time. Missing is effectively the same story, but the roles of the searching person and the missing person are flipped. I also think that the twist at the end of Searching is more interesting, and the antagonist’s actions are somewhat understandable. That being said, the twists are still predictable in both, but the interesting part is seeing how the villains ultimately did it and what their motivation was. Tying these films back into their interactivity, both of these emulate computer search-and-find games. They are obvious but fun, and the clues are presented in an exclusively visual fashion. They are just such fun ideas in general, and the fact that both of them succeed as well as they do is shocking.
Because of the presentation and the concept, so much character information and foreshadowing is communicated wordlessly and relies on the audience’s memory and deductive reasoning. There are no unexplained red herrings, and everything connects perfectly by the end of the movie. Another benefit to the concept is that there is a fun easter-egg in Searching that is only shown through headlines on the side of the screen. It has absolutely no bearing on the rest of the narrative, but it is a fun little tangent that makes it more interesting to rewatch.
I do not have a ton of stuff to say about these films, but I wanted to write something about them because I think the filmmakers take a tired concept within the film industry and make it something very fun and special. It would have been so easy for these films to be gimmicky and run out of steam when the novelty of the concept wears off, but they are successful in every regard. Both John Cho and Storm Reid are great in these movies and singlehandedly ground the narrative and characters. They are on screen in their respective films for almost the entire runtime, and they never falter in their performances. I especially liked how both films explore two different perspectives: Searching is from the paranoid and technologically illiterate perspective of a parent, and Missing is from a rebellious and true-crime-obsessed teenager.
Found footage is probably one of my least favorite sub-genres of horror filmmaking. I understand the appeal, but personally, I find it to be consistently disappointing and lacking in successful horror elements. Searching and Missing are outliers in their genre and, as a result, are more exciting to watch. I now understand the possibilities of found-footage or Screenlife filmmaking, and movies such as these cause me to rethink my inherent disinterest in those genres. While these are still the only films of their kind that I actually enjoy, I have been going out of my way to watch more found-footage movies and keep an open mind. I will give Searching an 8/10 and Missing a 7/10, and I highly recommend both. Especially if you are, like me, questioning the quality of found-footage films as a whole.
As always, thank you so much for reading, and if you have any suggestions or topic, please leave a comment!
The Review Mirror 