Fans Are Comparing The Searching Sequel Missing To Unfriended
"Missing" is the upcoming second film in the "Searching" franchise. Slotted for January of 2023, "Missing" is right around the corner, though it's only just been announced in the middle of November. While the second installment has a similar structure to the first film, which starred John Cho as a father searching for his missing daughter, the trailer for "Missing" doesn't actually seem to have any characters that connect to the original film.
Reversing the script from "Searching," this new film takes on the challenge of showing what happens when a teenager is left home alone while her parent is traveling, but never returns home. Starring Storm Reid as June, "Missing" follows the young woman in her attempts to find her mother when the police don't seem likely to do much. Disappearing during her trip to Colombia, June starts to suspect that her traveling companion, Kevin, may be involved. The deeper June goes in trying to locate her mom, the more secrets seem to be uncovered. The trailer even goes as far as to insinuate that her mother might be living with a secret identity.
The trailer is framed mostly through FaceTime, Instagram videos, and other forms of video recording. This was utilized pretty heavily in the original "Searching" film as well, and as life online has become more and more prevalent, media has adapted to fit. There are few movies that are a better example of this type of filmmaking than the 2014 film "Unfriended" and its sequel, "Unfriended: Dark Web," and a number of fans believe that based on its trailer, "Missing" has its share of similarities to the "Unfriended" franchise.
Unfriended capitalized on using a Skype call to tell its story
"Unfriended" arguably wasn't the best movie, but it had its horror charms. Following a group of friends on a Skype call who are picked off one-by-one by an unseen entity, the audience eventually finds out that they're being haunted by a girl who committed suicide because of a humiliating video they posted online. The original film was supernatural horror, but its makers profited off of the low-budget filming. All they needed were a few computers with webcams and some actors to sit in front of them.
The sequel, "Unfriended: Dark Web" steered away from the paranormal aspect to focus on the rising interest in the Dark Web, a horror fad based on a darker side of the Internet where the most unsavory things happen. Still, it stayed in line with filming entirely through modern apps and tech, keeping the same vibe as the film that came before it. "Searching" also succeeded in replicating this style and making it work for the story, so it's not surprising the fans are pointing out the comparisons.
Some of the comments on the "Missing" trailer have directly called back to "Unfriended." YouTube user Semaj said, "I loved Searching and these type of movies that are made with webcams and something scary happens like Unfriended and Searching," while user MarvelFan1995 said, "It's like Unfriended, only different." A few other comments also mentioned how similar the vibes between "Unfriended" and "Missing" are, while a couple said they hoped this film would do better than the 2014 Skype-based film. User cameronjr8 even said, "Still gonna be great unlike the obnoxious teens from Unfriended."
While the story "Missing" is trying to tell is completely different from both "Unfriended" films, the same methods of filming make them feel like horror for a modern era.