Searching is the best cyber thriller of the summer.
Told entirely through the tech devices of life it manages to find unexpected twists in its narrative of a father (John Cho) searching for his missing daughter (Michelle La).
Searching is a film about the stretching, breaking and reestablishing of family dynamics and bonds after tragedy. Its plot and subplot contrast both good and bad examples of how major setbacks can lead to function and dysfunction, lead to healing or breaking. It never ceases to surprise and be profoundly on point.
There is a prologue as moving as the one from Up that establishes the emotional and tech divide between father and daughter. How the father bridges that divide and finds his daughter is Searching’s major plot and thematic point. Searching is so coherent that parts of it feel slightly over written and plotted. Still, it never feels emotionally loose or under drawn.
Searching is as smart as a summer thriller can get.
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