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John McCann says ‘Searching’ has strong performances and is an inventive, tense thriller…
After two fruitful weeks at Tralee Omniplex with ‘BlackkKlansman’ and ‘Black 47’ amongst the best of 2018’s productions, I was delighted to see that this marked rise in quality continued with this weeks’ feature ‘Searching’ – a tense thriller written and directed by Aneesh Chaganty and starring John Cho in a long overdue lead role.
Shot from the point-of-view of smartphones and computer screens, ‘Searching’ follows David Kim’s (John Cho) attempt to find his missing 16-year-old daughter (Michelle La) with the help of a police detective (Debra Messing).
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Thirty-seven hours after his daughter has gone missing and without a single lead, David searches the one place no one has looked yet, where all secrets are kept: his daughter’s laptop as he traces his daughter’s digital footprints before she disappears forever.
Premiering at this year’s Sundance Film Festival, ‘Searching’ has been on the receiving end of some lavish critical praise and has also fared well at the box office and it’s not difficult to see why.
The visual execution of a modern thriller, using the props so common in our daily lives, such as smartphones, laptops etc. is a tool that works magnificently and adds both to the tension of the film and also the strong moral message attached throughout.
The writing and direction from Aneesh Chaganty is also admirable as the film zips along at a steady pace, with the viewer always engaged with plenty of twists and turns along the way.
John Cho, in his first lead role, shows the audience what they have been missing as he is central to everything good in this feature and delivers a tour de force as grief stricken father David Kim.
The timely nature and relevance of Searching is what makes it stand out however, as it not only uses modern technology to deliver a frantic and palpable thriller but also makes a strong social statement on modern society.
In general, ‘Searching’ is fast paced, visually inventive tense thriller containing strong performances in a film that will not disappoint!
4/5
• For more of John McCann’s movie reviews, check out his Facebook page here and website here
