Movie Review - Missing

Director: Nicholas D. Johnson, Will Merrick
Genre: Crime/ Thriller/ Drama
Runtime: 111 minutes
Year: 2023
Starring: Storm Reid, Nia Long, Ken Leung, Amy Landecker, Tim Griffin, Daniel Henney
 
Description: After her mother (Nia Long) goes missing, June (Storm Reid) tries to find her from home, using tools available to her online.

Review: In 2018, the thriller “Searching” was released in which a father used modern (social) media and apps to search for his missing daughter. The viewer was only shown his online activities and the format was original and the story had some surprising twists. Four and a half years later, the same creators release “Missing”. Same format, new characters, different story. And again, lots of surprises and just as entertaining.

This time it revolves around teenager June, who maintains a troubled relationship with her overprotective mother Grace after the death of her father. When Grace undertakes a romantic trip to Colombia with her new boyfriend, June is happy to have a moment of total abandonment. But when she wakes up on the day she has to pick her mother up from the airport, Grace and her boyfriend never show up.

We get right into the mystery, just little introduction, but that’s not needed. It’s very clear that Grace and June have a rocky relationship. When June realizes her mother is missing, she starts her own investigation.

Directors Nicholas D. Johnson and Will Merrick do not take a moment to slow down with their screenplay and make you increasingly curious about the true circumstances of the disappearance. The screens, apps, chats, cameras, searches, facetime calls and messages all pass by, but the filmmakers manage to convey the information to the audience in an orderly fashion.

The story constantly leads us in certain directions, eventually taking a different path and ending with a twist that you could not see coming. Even when the clues were there, at the time of seeing them, you don’t know how to place them in the story yet.

“Missing” is, just like “Searching”, a well-crafted thriller with some strong plot twists and a really solid Storm Reid as the lead.  If you enjoyed “Searching” you will feel the same about “Missing”.

Rating: 4,5/ 5

TV Show Reviews - The Last of Us (Season 1)

Season: 1
Genre: Drama/ Action/ Adventure
Number of episodes: 9
Year: 2023
Starring: Pedro Pascal, Bella Ramsey, Anna Torv, Lamar Johnson, Melanie Lynskey, Nico Parker, Gabriel Luna, Nick Offerman, Murray Bartlett, Storm Reid, Ashley Johnson

Description: After a global pandemic destroys civilization, a hardened survivor (Pedro Pascal) takes charge of a 14-year-old girl (Bella Ramsey) who may be humanity’s last hope.

Review: “The Last of Us” is a film adaptation of the popular video game of the same name. At the beginning of the twenty-first century, a parasitic fungus emerges that turns people into infectious zombies. The disease spreads rapidly and affects Joel as well as his daughter. He survives, she does not. Twenty years later, the remaining society is different; it is not the best. Joel is tasked with smuggling a package from Boston to the western United States. That package turns out to be a girl named Ellie, about the same age as Joel’s daughter. What’s so special about Ellie? She is immune.

I never played the game, but I was familiar with it. And if I have to believe the fans, the screen adaptation is very close to the game. The creators have paid extreme attention to the characters, their stories and emotions.

I think that “The Last of Us” is the best screen adaptation of a video game I have ever seen. This series is packed full of amazing shots, emotion, interesting characters, developments.

I fell in love with Joel and Ellie’s bond. And that’s all thanks to the amazing performances by Pedro Pascal and Bella Ramsey. You know, when you have certain movies or series, and you just can’t imagine another actor playing the role? That’s what I felt with “The Last of Us”. Pascal and Ramsey were both perfectly cast for their respective roles and they work well together and apart. The growing bond that develops between the two is the heart of this show.

Even though the show focuses on Joel and Ellie, as does the game, the series adaptation also takes some time to explore other characters. For instance, episode 3, where we meet Bill and Frank. In the game we never meet Frank, which makes Bill’s story so much more interesting now we get to know both of them and their relationship. This episode really made me cry (as did many other episodes).

My favorite episodes were episode 5, where Joel and Ellie are accompanied by the brothers Henry and Sam, and episode 8, where Ellie comes across a vengeful group of survivors. Both episodes have a scene in it, that made me feel all the feels. And I can easily say that these episodes are both some of the best TV moments I have ever seen.

So much praise for this series, I cannot say enough good things about “The Last of Us”. I keep recommending this show to everyone. And you don’t even have to know the game, because I never played it either. I loved it, one of the best shows I have ever seen.