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Summary
The 2018 thrillerSearchinghas a clever ending and is a perfect example of how well a filmmaker can tell a story entirely via a computer screen. While many great movies are part of the found footage horror movie genre, includingHell House LLCwhich has deep lore, it’s rare for a horror or thriller film to use this device without feeling gimmicky. Instead,Searchingintelligently explores the love that a father has for his daughter and the path he goes down when trying to locate her when she disappears.
Searchingstars John Cho as a parent whose worst nightmare has seemingly come true, and every moment of the thriller is fascinating and clever. The ending ofSearchingincludes a twist that impresses even the most avid and seasoned horror and thriller fans.
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How Does Searching End?
The end ofSearchingwraps up what is a smart and pulse-pounding mystery that never becomes boring for a single moment. David Kim (John Cho) is looking for his teenage daughter Margot (Michelle La) and realizes that Detective Vick (Debra Messing), who he thought was helping him, is actually at the heart of the mystery. This great plot twist is one reason whySearchingis a more compelling and thrilling movie thanMissing, which was released in 2023and serves as a sequel (although the plot isn’t connected).
Searchingis an example ofthe screenlife movie genreand is considered by many to be the best and most well-crafted example. The film’s ending is intelligent and includes a twist that no one can forget. David learns that Detective Vick wanted to work on the case of Margot’s disappearance so she could cover up for her son Robert. Vick framed Randy, a convict whom she met when he participated in a program that she oversaw.
David solves the mystery when he sees the photo of a girl on a funeral website and realizes that it’s a stock picture and not actually Margot’s friend Hannah. Robert liked Margot and pretended to be Hannah. Robert felt bad about asking for money and wanted to meet Margot at Barbosa Lake. Instead of this being a romantic moment, Robert pushed Margot into a ravine, thought she was dead, and hoped that he could get away with it.
Writer And Director
Writers: Aneesh Chaganty and Sev Ohanian Director: Aneesh Chaganty
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Where To Watch
DirecTV
David tells the police, who locate Margot. Thanks to a storm that took place not too long ago, she was able to stay alive by drinking water that washed into the ravine.Searchingends with Margot looking forward to the future when she will study piano in college. David says that her mother Pamela would have loved to see her succeed, which is one of the most emotional moments of the movie. David and Margot have repaired their bond, which is a sweet way to wrap up the story.
What Is Searching About?
Searchingfollows David Kim’s investigation of his daughter Margot’s disappearance. The movie opens with a heartbreaking sequence that shares that David and Margot lost their wife and mother Pamela to cancer a little while ago. The sequence brilliantly shows that David and Margot are struggling to connect and that their relationship is nothing like it used to be.
IfSearchingwas told in a more traditional format, this opening wouldn’t be as moving. John Cho liked the beginning of the movie and explained in aninterview withThe Vergein 2018 that he felt that telling the family’s history in this way worked well. The actor said:
“Well, I read it, and I thought the story itself was really exciting, and it was a great whodunnit. I couldn’t guess the ending until I read it. I thought the characterizations were really right there, on the page. The opening sequence of the film, if you recall, that sort of digital family-photo-album sequence was very affecting, even in its abbreviated form on the page.”
Just likeUnfriendedis a unique teen horror moviethanks to the fact that it all takes place on a computer screen,Searchingmakes the most of its format. The characters are well-developed and the action is thrilling.
What Did Critics Say About Searching?
While horror and thriller fans often praiseSearchingfor its creative storytelling, not every critic liked it. However, the movie did get several positive reviews. WhileThe Guardianpublished a two-star review,Rolling Stonegave it four stars and complimentedSearchingon its ability to keep audiences invested throughout the entire runtime. Several of the reviews shared on Rotten Tomatoes praised the movie for making sure that audiences feel compassion toward David and Margot. Thebest Blumhouse horror movies about technologyhave character development and emotion along with scares.Searchinguses a computer screen to tell a moving story about a sweet father and daughter.
In 2018,John Cho spoke toThe IndependentaboutSearching’s unique storytelling device. He praised the movie:
“As a species, all these emotions that we used to experience, albeit exchanged face-to-face, are now happening inside the computer. What he did was go inside the computer so that he could then reproject it onto the big screen. And make those interactions inside the computer feel as big as they feel to us internally. That’s what I loved about it.”
