Searching is a taut Rear Window for millennials telling the story of a missing person through tech devices

THERE is an Emmy-winning episode of US sitcom Modern Family from 2015 in which the viewer sees the entire storyline through Claire’s laptop screen.

It was called Connection Lost and was hugely inventive.

The episode really opened eyes to how much of our lives are lived through — and visible to others — via devices.

Searching takes that premise and delivers a full-length film, told through the various devices, surveillance cameras and media.
Quite frankly, it punches massively above its weight.

After five minutes of, “Urgh this is annoying”, you are drawn into a Rear Window for millennials. It is fresh, taut and one of the first truly “original” films I have seen for a while.

We begin by watching Margot Kim (Michelle La) grow up, ingeniously aided by the technology we have experienced through the decades — the chime of Windows 98, digital cameras, MSN Messenger, Google searches for “Entercourse” and the like. We also learn of Margot’s sad family situation.

Her mother’s death leaves the girl and her father David (John Cho) to fend for themselves in a sometimes testing and distant relationship that only dads and teenage daughters can have.

A late-night study session with friends begins innocuously enough, but successive missed FaceTime calls throughout the night suggest all is not well. Margot is missing.

With the help of the police officer assigned to the case, Detective Rosemary Vick (Debra Messing), David must try to piece together the puzzle.
 He uses the most effective tools available, namely his daughter’s social media and online life.

It is high-concept and requires a certain leap of faith. But it really works — and I was all in. Your eyes start scouring the various windows and screens that open, playing detective in the search for any clues and bracing yourself for red herrings and twists.

We learn Margot has skipped piano lessons and hoarded the cash. All is not as it seems.

The question it is asking, obviously, is: How much do we really know about our children’s online life?

Terrifyingly, the answer is probably not nearly enough.

The concept does slip slightly towards the end.

But despite a huge plot hole and some handy explanation from news reporters, this is a really sharp film.

It has a go at something different and succeeds.

Searching

(12A) 102 mins

★★★★