Impressive 'Searching' works way better than it should

Searching is an unabashedly gimmicky movie. Like the found footage movies whose DNA it borrows, it tells its entire narrative through online videos, Facetimes, video chats, breaking news livestreams, etc. It definitely stretches some credibility from time to time, and yet I enjoyed the hell out of it .

I was consistently thrilled that they both pulled off the feat and made a genuinely absorbing who-done-it in the process.

The other elephant in the room, which never factors into the plot of this movie in a totally refreshing way, is that this is the second mainstream, accessible vehicle with a predominately Asian cast to hit the big screen, following the runaway success of Crazy Rich Asians, which makes it feel like a really special moment in movies, that hopefully will continue to be replicated.

The difference is that Crazy Rich Asians is based on a best-selling book, is a broad comedy, and has a glamour factor this movie doesn't. Searching relies almost entirely on the underrated enduring charm of it star, John Cho, and a fun plot which keeps surprising you just when you think it can't have anymore momentum.

It revolves around a dutiful single father whose teenage daughter goes missing. The film does a phenomenal job of establishing their relationship early on through snippets of social media ephemera and allows the disappearance to sink in rather realistically.

Once that inciting incident takes place the movie delves into far more interesting territory -- it begs questions about how much we really know about the ones we love, the footprints we leave with out social activity on the web and just how many breadcrumbs a person can leave behind in a situation such as this.

It helps that Cho's character is a highly intelligent, motivated person, who largely does what we all hope we'd do under these circumstances, but he also isn't some resolute action movie cliche. The film establishes that he is uptight and anxious, by showing the texts he frequently composes but then doesn't dare send, a nice touch that I haven't seen in many movies before.

There are some great latter act twists I won't spoil and a strangely compelling dramatic performance from none other than Debra Messing that's worth shouting out -- but I think what's almost more important about this movie is what it represents than the propulsive plot points.

It's another breakthrough for diversity. Like I said earlier, the fact that Cho is Asian and this plot centers around the disappearance of an Asian girl is unspoken and incidental, which is something we need more of. And the film's use of technology, while in your face, feels relevant and gripping.

I will say I am not so sure it fully works as a big screen cinematic experience. Something about the film feels like it'd play better on Netflix or just on a smaller venue. This is clearly not a movie where they spared no expense. It's small and it feels small.

That being said -- every time I thought this film had run out of gas and exhausted its stylistic parameters it through another curveball at me, and by the time the film ended I genuinely couldn't have predicted where it was going -- which is a really impressive thing for someone who watches as many movies as I do.

Searching feels like the kind of movie Hitchcock would have made if he were an active filmmaker today. It is an almost old fashioned mystery told with a perspective steeped in 2018.