Searching [Includes Digital Copy] [Blu-ray]

Director: Aneesh Chaganty, Michel Hazanavicius

Overview

In this hyper-modern techno-thriller, a family's idyllic life splinters apart after the father, David Kim (David Cho) discovers that his 16-year-old daughter Margot (Michelle La) is missing. David turns to the police and an investigation is opened but the hours tick by with no leads. Suddenly, David remembers his daughter's laptop and the search goes hi-tech as he traces Margot's digital footprint in a desperate attempt to locate her before she is lost to them, forever. Directed by Aneesh Chaganty.

Product Details

Release Date:	11/27/2018
UPC:	0043396542211
Original Release:	2018
Rating:	PG-13
Region Code:	A
Presentation:	[Wide Screen]
Sound:	[Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround]
Language:	English
Time:	1:42:00
Sales rank:	14,719

Special Features

Searching for Easter Eggs; Changing the language of film; Filmmaker's commentary; Update username: cast and characters

Cast & Crew

Performance Credits

John Cho	David Kim
Sara Sohn	Pamela Nam Kim
Michelle La	Margot
Dominic Hoffman	Michael Porter
Connor McRaith	Issac
Debra Messing	Detective Rosemary Vick
Thomas Barbusca	Cody (YouCast)
Alex Jayne Go	Young Margot
Megan Liu	Young Margot
Kya Dawn Lau	Young Margot
Joseph John Schirle	Jonah Emmi
Briana McLean	Abigail
Franchesca Maia	Sadie
Erica Jenkins	Hannah
Katie Rowe	Diver #2
Roy Abramsohn	Male Anchor
Kristin Herold	Female Anchor,Female Anchor
Rasha Goel	Search Reporter
Johnno Wilson	Mike Makowsky
Erin Henriques	Stacy
Gage Biltoft	John Watson
Steven Michael Eich	Robert
Sean O'Bryan	Radio Jockey
Ric Sarabia	Randy Cartoff
John Macey	Mr. Lee
B?r?nice Bejo	Actor
Annette Bening	Actor
Maksim Emelyanov	Actor
Abdul Khalim Mamutsiev	Actor
Zukhra Duishvili	Actor
Lela Bagakashvili	Actor
Yuriy Tsurilo	Actor
Anton Dolgov	Actor
Mamuka Matchitidze	Actor
Rusudan Pareulidze	Actor
Dmytro Tuboltsev	Actor
Bjarne Henriksen	Actor
Nino Kobakhidze	Actor
Gabriel D. Angell	Brandon Jackson
Kyle Austin Brown	K-9 unit
Benjamin J. Cain Jr.	SVPD Homicide Agent
Harvey B. Jackson	San Jose PD Sgt Shaw
Peter Janov	EMT
Alex J. Joseph	Officer Burns
Sylvia Minassian	Mrs. Shahinian (Voice)
Colin Woodell	911 Operator
Ashley Edner	Margot's Friend #1
Kenneth Mosley	Margot's Friend #7
Ben J. Pierce	Margot's Friend #11
Reed Buck	Derek Ellis
Julie Nathanson	Natalie Boyd
Brad Abrell	News Reporter
Michelle Sparks	Voices,News Reporter #4
Joseph Lee	Actor
Melissa Disney	Isaac's Mom
Joseph K. Shirle	Jonah Emmi
Courtney Cummings	Margot's Friend #2
Bryce Branagan	Diver #1
LaSaundra Gibson	Faustine Rea
Betsy Foldes Meiman	SVPD Missing Persons
Torin Borrowdale	Composer
Torrin Borrowdale	Composer

Technical Credits

Sev Ohanian

Aneesh Chaganty

Timur Bekmambetov	Producer
Ana Liza Muravina	Producer,Executive Producer
Natalie Qasabian	Producer,Executive Producer
Adam Sidman	Producer
Sev Ohanian	Screenwriter,Producer
Aneesh Chaganty	Screenwriter
Igor Tsay	Executive Producer
Mariya Zatulovskaya	Executive Producer
Gerry Montejo	Sound Editor
Pinhua Chen	Sound Editor
Jesse Miller	Sound Editor
Nathan Ruyle	Sound/Sound Designer
Lindsey Weissmueller	Casting

Editorial Reviews

The suspenseful Searching comes packed with a lot of treats, most of all how much originality it brings to a tired genre. When a widower and a single father of a teenaged daughter discovers that she's missing, he takes it on himself to find out what's happened to her. As the layers of what's known about her life are turned over, he discovers that he may not know her as well as he thinks he did. In a breakout star-making performance, middle-aged single dad David Kim, played by John Cho (Star Trek reboots, Harold & Kumar series), is allowed the opportunity to display a broad range of emotion outside of his usual funny-guy roles. Playing the current distressed version of himself, he is held up in counterpoint with home video of the past happier version of himself when he was a part of his daughter's life as she was growing up. He masterfully exhibits nuanced reactions as he searches his daughter's laptop for clues as to her disappearance, only to be led deeper into an anxious hole. Detective Rosemary Vick, played by Debra Messing (Will & Grace), helps guide David along the emotional roller coaster of what happens when disaster strikes close to home. Her expertise is able to blend well with David's grim determination to piece the puzzle together in time to possibly save his daughter, as well as offering David a sounding board from the perspective of someone who's been through this before. Newcomer to the silver screen Michelle La plays Margot Kim, David's missing daughter. Unnerved by the death of her mother and at odds with her father, she brings a dreadful sense of realism to the role. Despite the fact that the movie is about her disappearance, we do still get to see her in home video style footage as the film progresses. What the movie lacks in big Hollywood set pieces, it more than makes up for in gritty performances, and a barebones script. This serves to increase our ability to suspend disbelief, because the story itself hits so close to home. Stylistically, Searching proves that films made up almost entirely of being on-screen footage are more than just a novelty. It offers a surprising amount of depth crafted by the first-time writer/director Aneesh Chaganty. One nice thing about the low budget/low risk that accompanies this style is that it allows for newcomers to prove themselves, in this case especially requiring some creative thinking to see how far the medium can be pushed. Ultimately, Searching is much more than just a thriller, or horror film, like the low-budget Unfriended series shot in the same style, and also produced by Timur Bekmambetov. Paying homage to Alfred Hitchcock's classic suspense, Rear Window, the film manages to stay taught and evenly paced, while most of the action takes place with a man sitting down. While the internet broadens this 'window' into the world, Searching also brings up a deeply uncomfortable feeling that all parents have: while the internet broadens this 'window' into the world, Searching also brings up a deeply uncomfortable feeling that all parents have: that they do not truly know their children - and how the internet itself can bring about this darkness.