Searching

[ahman]

Really enjoyed it. An interesting idea for the film. Twists and turns. Fast pace. Very convincing performance.

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Thank goodness for the happy ending.

10/10

[stuartboy]

A very effective, reasonably tense, if unsurprisingly gimmicky, thriller with solid performances from Cho and Messing.
If I have a slight criticism it's that an early photo includes a knowing detail that basically gives away what actually happens to Margot.

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It involves the photo of her first day at Evercreek High.
They are standing in front of a sign that reveals that the high school is 'the home of the catfish'
Catfish in computer terms is what happens when you 'lure (someone) into a relationship by adopting a fictional online persona'.
Which is of course what Detective Vick's son did on the Youcast site.
I think it's unlikely to be a mere coincidence, rather that the filmmakers probably thought it would be amusing to include such a detail in plain sight.
The scene including that photo is also in the film's trailer if you want to check it out (it's 40 seconds in)

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There's also another giveaway early on when he has a news website open and the headline article is about a backpacker surviving injured for 10 days in the Sierra Nevada. This is well before Margot even goes missing.

I found the way that David Kim addressed the female detective as "Vick" all the time as seemingly very disrespectful. It wasn't a nickname but her surname - Detective Vick (unlike Fireman Sam or Postman Pat). Oh, and how sadistic did he come over as regarding the trash? He looked fit to torture her over that issue. For gawd's sake man - put it out yourself and give the kid a break!

All in all a good solid movie - original and cleverly done.

[Beate]

I see it in American shows all the time that people address each other with their surnames. Seems to be a thing.

And if you think it's sadistic to try and get your daughter to do her chores by hassling her a little bit via text, you really have no idea what properly bad parenting is!

[D-Fens]

Spoiler

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It involves the photo of her first day at Evercreek High.
They are standing in front of a sign that reveals that the high school is 'the home of the catfish'
Catfish in computer terms is what happens when you 'lure (someone) into a relationship by adopting a fictional online persona'.
Which is of course what Detective Vick's son did on the Youcast site.
I think it's unlikely to be a mere coincidence, rather that the filmmakers probably thought it would be amusing to include such a detail in plain sight.
The scene including that photo is also in the film's trailer if you want to check it out (it's 40 seconds in)

Spoiler

Show

There's also another giveaway early on when he has a news website open and the headline article is about a backpacker surviving injured for 10 days in the Sierra Nevada. This is well before Margot even goes missing.

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Pretty sure there's an even more on the nose reference to Catfish on one of the many screens we see and in the photo of Vick and the ex-cons I recognised that guy as an actor and figured he'd be relevant... but isn't that the point? You're supposed to be able to put these clues together because it's well constructed and knowing that information in advance doesn't actually spoil anything.

[alythonian]

Really enjoyed this. Had no expectations and was pleasantly delighted by the film I saw. It woukd appeal to many different demographics I suspect, and was cleverly put together.
Word shoukd spread and people should give this a go.
9/10 from me.

[Gracie98]

Being honest, if I were going to the cinema I would have probably skipped on this movie. But I left the theatre very surprised! I enjoyed the movie a lot and will probably watch it again with my partner once is out. I recommend it,
9/10

[Marcia Queen]

I saw this yesterday at Ritzy Brixton. Good film and has recommended it to others.

[ladams888]

Saw Searching yesterday at Clapham Picturehouse. I was expecting a fairly predictable film where the father is searching for his lost daughter who has been abducted/run away. I was pleasantly surprised by the way the film was portrayed, in its entirety, on social media. A very clever, completely original and somewhat daring idea. I absolutely loved the intro whereby we meet John, his wife, Pam and their daughter Margot all through Windows XP and later on through his Mac. We learned about Pam’s illness and death all through this medium – and that was all before the film really started. I liked the way that technology in the film changed throughout the years in exactly the same way that the technology changes in real life.

Excellent performance by David Kim (Sulu of Star Trek) as the father searching for his daughter and at the same time getting to grips with all the websites that his daughter used.

The film addressed today’s fears that there is too much information out there.

Not expecting anything great, I was really surprised at how engaging the film was. 10/10

[Bluebell]

I thoroughly enjoyed Searching. I was a bit sceptical before watching it as to how enjoyable it would be, but the plot was full of twists and turns and I really did not foresee the ending! As someone who is not particularly techy it was fascinating to see how David used various technology and social media to hunt for clues about his daughter's disappearance. John Cho was excellent as the grieving father.
I would definitely recommend.

9/10

[raj101]

excellent, the next evolution from the now defunct "found footage" movies, although probably works better on small screen in my view.

4 stars.