Searching (2018)

One week in 2018, I checked the listings of movies, saw there was a new ​thriller called Searching, found the nearest theater showing it, and went with friends. Back then, we did that. 

I was not particularly drawn by the idea that the story played out entirely on electronic screens. The hero (John Cho) searches for his missing daughter on her laptop, and later on a phone and through TV news broadcasts.  We never see the characters directly. Mostly I hoped this gimmick would not get in the way.

For me at least, the gimmick adds a little to the suspense. Best of all,  it's a good story. I cared about the teenager in distress, I was pulling for her father to find her. The dark twists the story takes in the second half were satisfying. 

Writer-director Aneesh Chaganty has a new suspense film about a disabled, home-schooled teenager whose mother may not have her best interests at heart. Since theaters are not up and running, it debuts on Hulu today---Friday, November 20, 2020. The title is Run.

Based on Searching, Chaganty is good with parent-teenager relationships and he tells a good story. You might want to watch both Searching and Run this weekend, in either order.