(3 / 4)
Engrossing cyber thriller that stretches the scope of its story as far as its style allows, at times to its detriment.
Searching is a straightforward tale of David Kim (John Cho), a single father who one day awakens to every parent’s worst nightmare when his 15-year old daughter Margot (Michelle La) doesn’t return home from her late-night study session at a friend’s house. What follows is a desperate father working with a local Detective (Debra Messing) to trace his daughter’s whereabouts via her computer. Searching is part of a long line of thrillers such as Unfriended and the Paranormal Activity series that seek to imitate real life by portraying the story’s events strictly through the electronic devices being used by the characters. By now this manner of storytelling is far from an innovative technique, however, Searching manages to have some unique tricks up its sleeve to set this thriller apart from the rest.