There has been speculation about whether Missing is based on a true story. The Netflix streaming movie stars Storm Reid, best known for her role in Euphoria, who portrays a teenager that is searching for her mother who has apparently gone missing while vacationing in Colombia. Reid's character June uses a variety of internet sleuthing abilities in her attempt to track down the location of her mom Grace (Nia Long) and her mom's boyfriend Kevin (Ken Leung).
Netflix viewers are loving the underrated movie which has remained on the streaming platform's Top 10 list since it premiered on May 20th. The intense thriller follows June's story as her missing mother in Colombia becomes a national news story. June utilizes the full extent of the internet and technology at her disposal to do everything she can to locate her mom and find out the truth about her mysterious disappearance. Along the way, she uncovers dark secrets about her mother, which alludes to other previous works by the creators of Missing.
Missing Is Not Based On A True Story
Despite its lifelike premise and innovative use of modern technologies in its storytelling, Missing is not based on a true story. The film and its plot are completely fictional works that were conceptualized and written by Sev Ohanian and Aneesh Chaganty. Ohanian and Chaganty actually wrote the story for Missing while directors Nick Johnson and Will Merrick wrote the screenplay. Johnson and Merrick also edited both Run and Searching under Chaganty's direction.
Missing is a stand-alone sequel to Searching, meaning that both stories take place in the same universe but are not directly linked by plot or cast. The original stories to both movies, as well as the Hulu original thriller movie Run starring Sarah Paulson, were written by Ohanian and Chaganty as well. Due to the frequent collaboration of writers and directors, Missing is stylistically constructed and visually shot very similarly to Searching. There are a number of subtle connections to these three films that their collaborators made sure to include.
How Missing Connects To Searching & Run
There are several Easter eggs that connect Missing to Searching and Run. Both Missing and Searching have protagonists that use various forms of common technology and communication devices including laptops, cell phones, and Apple watches to solve mysteries and expose crimes. June watches a made-up Netflix true crime series titled Unfiction which references Margot's disappearance in Searching and the online strategy David, her father, used to find her. A brief moment hidden in Missing also reveals an update on the fate of Sarah Paulson's character after the end of Run.
The three stories are told within the same universe and are connected by similar themes of secrecy between loved ones and the innovative role for good that technology can play in films such as Missing.