Missing is a standalone sequel of Searching and it follows the story of a daughter investigating the disappearance of her mother and her boyfriend. The story is in a similar mould of Searching and it is most definitely nail-biting and thrilling right throughout. The runtime of a shade under 2 hours does make for a brisk narrative wherein you need to be supremely attentive to link all the clues together.

First things first! Since 2018, technology has also progressed in the next 5 years. And because this film did have a technology background to it, I really was keen on how that would translate onscreen. And there definitely has been an upgrade here, although the core technology does remain the same. Mind you, technology is a prime character in the film and it is showcased really well! The film does have a quick 15 minute setup before kickstarting the actual mystery. Another word of caution being that do not miss any minute of the film and try staying as attentive as you can as the clues are spread across in all directions.

The proceedings are fast-paced, thrilling and nail-biting in every sense of the word. The drama does run about in every possible direction and kudos to the makers for controlling the narrative and not allowing it to go berserk and out of control. There are multiple twists and turns that will leave you gasping for breath, as the drama keeps getting murkier by the minute. Some of the twists are so unexpected and unpredictable that they will catch you off-guard. But the underlying question is whether Missing is better than or at par with Searching. The answer is no!

The differentiating factor between Searching and Missing was that the former had its mystery intact right until the last minute. But in Missing, the mystery does unravel atleast 15 minues before the end credits roll when the cat is out of the bag. I kind of did feel slightly underwhelmed by its final act wherein things wern’t as layered as the rest of the film. It just did feel too simplistic and convenient although the writers did seem to be very self aware of this fact. In a scene, the protagonist finishes watching the Netflix episode on her life and claims, ‘Who Watches This Garbage?’. The humour being absolutely spot on right throughout(in smaller portions and quantities, almost used as a filler). Overall, the screenplay here is thrill-a-minute stuff, absolutely managing to keep you at the edge of your seats!