SEARCHING (2018)

8/31/18 - Searching (2018) 6-/10

Extremely manipulative and “shoe dropy” (as in, waiting for), but engaging nonetheless. This is a film that is trying hard to worm its way into your emotions and put you in the protagonists shoes. For the most part, they do a fine job of the later, as we take the investigative journey alongside the father. The screens serve well as doorways into an empathetic experience, which is a strong win for the film and its style. I feel as though the it raps us on the nose with its rolled-up newspaper of sentimental guidance and twists/turns, rarely letting us find our own way within the narrative, which I grew weary of. Overall though, it accomplishes its goals and remains mostly entertaining throughout.

The evolution of screens as cinematic filters or windows has progressed well. This film does a smart job for the most part of utilizing so much of what we are used to in the digital world to breach the divide between our experiential intuition and this fictional drama. Perhaps, at times, it pushes a bit too hard, but the effort and construction works overall.

John Cho does a fine job, being the near sole figure that we consume on screen. The feature would completely collapse without a worthy performance from him.

Definitely sappy and “button pushy”, but I would assume that it would be a crowd-pleaser with most. It was a mildly inventive and taught mystery/thriller that works. On retrospect, they certainly set up the surprising elements, but they evolve and develop naturally. A good but unspectacular effort that manages to deliver on its premise and do something a bit different.