The trailer for Missing, the standalone sequel to Aneesh Chagantry's 2018 thriller Searching, has been released, teasing yet another exhilarating installment of the emerging anthology franchise. Chagantry announced that a follow-up film featuring new characters and a different storyline was in the works in 2019, following the critical and commercial success of Searching, which was heralded for its unique formatting that took place exclusively through the screens of televisions, phones, and computers, as a part of an innovative genre called screen life. Missing, written and directed by Nick Johnson and Will Merrick based on a story by Chaganty and Sev Ohanian, follows the same visual approach to depict another intricate missing person case. The film stars Storm Reid, Nia Long, Joaquim de Almeida, Ken Leung, Amy Landecker, and Daniel Henney.
Eager viewers finally have their first look at Missing, per the first trailer released by Sony. The hair-raising trailer, which abruptly shifts from lighthearted and humorous to terrifying and eerie, hints at a similarly engrossing cinematic experience as Searching, but with a different enough storyline to promise a successful stand-alone installment. Check out the trailer below.
How Missing Will Be Different From Searching
Though the premise and visual formatting of Missing does resemble that of its predecessor, Johnson has assured fans that the upcoming sequel will offer a unique storyline with unpredictable twists. In explaining how this film will differ from the original, Johnson explains that, unlike the first film and most thrillers centered around a missing person, Missing is not about a parent searching for their child, but rather a child trying to save their parent. Whereas Searching followed David Kim's (John Cho) mission to locate his daughter, Missing flips this dynamic with Storm Reid as protagonist June helplessly trying to track down the whereabouts of her mother (Nia Long) who never returned from a trip to Colombia.
One through line carried from Searching into Missing is the personal secrets that the central characters uncover about their loved ones while looking for them, which make them wonder if they really ever knew them at all. Both David and June appear to face helpless moments of self-doubt and inner conflict as they take the investigations into their own hands to reunite their families. For this reason, films set in the Searching universe transcend the mystery genre, exploring more than most whodunits, to speak to larger truths regarding complicated familial relationships and the way love can often be entwined with deceit.
As the thriller anthology series begins to grow, fans are eager to see if the second installment is able to match the success of the first without merely recycling the plot points and twists that made Searching so popular. Whether Missing indicates the start of a new classic mystery franchise will only become clear when the film premieres. Missing is set to have its theatrical release on Jan. 20, 2023.
Source: Sony