| Cast overview, first billed only: | |||
| John Cho | ... | David Kim | |
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|
Sara Sohn | ... | Pamela Nam Kim |
| Alex Jayne Go | ... | Young Margot (5 yrs) | |
| Megan Liu | ... | Young Margot (7 yrs) | |
| Kya Dawn Lau | ... | Young Margot (9 yrs) | |
| Michelle La | ... | Margot | |
| Joseph Lee | ... | Peter | |
| Dominic Hoffman | ... | Michael Porter | |
|
|
Sylvia Minassian | ... | Mrs. Shahinian (voice) |
| Melissa Disney | ... | Isaac's Mom (voice) | |
| Connor McRaith | ... | Isaac | |
| Colin Woodell | ... | 911 Operator (voice) | |
| Debra Messing | ... | Detective Vick | |
| Joseph John Schirle | ... | Jonah Emmi (voice) (as Joseph K. Shirle) | |
| Ashley Edner | ... | Margot's Friend #1 (voice) | |
After David Kim (John Cho)'s 16-year-old daughter goes missing, a local investigation is opened and a detective is assigned to the case. But 37 hours later and without a single lead, David decides to search the one place no one has looked yet, where all secrets are kept today: his daughter's laptop. In a hyper-modern thriller told via the technology devices we use every day to communicate, David must trace his daughter's digital footprints before she disappears forever.
When Searching was initially annouced I was excited, a John Cho straight role and in that unique presentation style? Count me in, this was on paper destined to be something special.
Sadly whenever I hype a movie up like this they tend to fall flat, but not Searching. No, no Searching lived up to my high expectations and the John Cho movie demonstrated that this is one of those guys like Ryan Reynolds and Will Smith who truly can do it all.
The whole movie plays out through pc windows and camera footage. Yes it has been done before with the likes of Unfriended (2014) but they took the concept to the next level here and it works considerably better than you'd imagine.
John Cho delivers an emotional tour de force with some of the best written material I've seen in years. It's so clever, so intricate and just when you think you've got it all figured out another spanner is thrown into the works to make you re-evaluate everything you've seen so far.
As I'm getting older I'm becoming a harsher critic because I've seen everything before. Movies like Searching reaffirm my faith in the industry, it's fresh, it's fascinating and doesn't fall for any of the usual Hollywood tropes.
By far Searching is the best film I've seen in a longtime, a true unconditional triumph and I applaud everyone involved. Outstanding!
The Good:
Very unique cinematography
Powerful performance by Cho
Incredibly smart writing
The Bad:
Nothing springs to mind
Things I Learnt From This Movie:
There is hope for Hollywood yet
John Cho is one of the most underappreciated actors in the industry