Searching

Great, intense, catchy, original. Exactly the type of thriller that you watch and get sucked into the plot by a simple but well-thought-out theme which shows the big potential power of Internet and social media. The father has broken into his daughter’s computer surprisingly easily, but it was acceptable as part of the story. At a time when European cinematography doesn’t finish itsstories and leaves the ending up to the spectator, the literal nature of this story is a nice surprise. The Americans simply like it and I also didn’t mind it. A great work that easily makes waves among mediocre thrillers and adds a lot of originality. (03.04.2019)

John Cho finds out that his daughter is missing and now he tries to find her with the help of the police. A rather ordinary plot? Maybe, but The Search is definitely not an ordinary movie. The fact that it's shot entirely on cell phone or computer cameras, and we see what's happening on a laptop screen instead of a traditional manhunt, makes it something a little different. And it works surprisingly well in the thriller genre. The Search is an interesting, but above all suspenseful and cleverly conceived film that you definitely shouldn't miss. (16.02.2019)

The surprise of the year and one of the best crime-media-social thrillers ever. The entire film takes place on a PC desktop, and sometimes with the help of a camera or mobile phone, which adds greatly to the authenticity and believability. It tells the story of a little girl who mysteriously disappears and her father tries to find out what happened to her. He learns information that he had absolutely no idea about his daughter and at times the film is really emotionally devastating. Praise must also go to the screenwriter who prepared a nice dose of brutal twists (all unexpected and shocking at the same time). But the biggest applause goes to the final denouement in the style of Saw, which left me almost breathless and I can't remember the last time I saw such an incredibly sophisticated, over-the-top, authentic thriller. Very gppd, incredibly gripping, engaging and uncompromisingly playing with the viewer. John Cho was very good. Bravo! 90% (16.10.2018)

I'll watch Searching quietly and happily a few more times. And for several reasons. The first is the original portrayal, which surprisingly also carries with it a lot of emotion. You only see the computer screen, you only hear the sounds coming from the person looking into the computer, and yet you can understand exactly how to feel. On the one hand, it's eerily true to our times, but on the other hand, it's brilliant. The way the filmmakers came up with the finale thrilled me a little less, hence the star down. But I still think it's one of the most important films of last year. (22.01.2019)

This is an interesting concept that I have not seen before. I get that it is not groundbreaking, but so far I have not had the honor of seeing it, so the idea itself impressed me more than it probably deserves. I was discouraged by the annoyingly melodramatic music, which seemed to come from East Asian films, where sweet sentiment is often mixed with brutal aestheticized violence. However, I was much more bothered by the incompleteness of the screenplay, which relies too much on form and does not address inconsistencies and incredible errors (would the police really work like this?). Even the literalness and typically studio ending didn't excite me. It does not help that the film loses its filmmaker's touch primarily in the second half instead of making the impressive climax helps us forget the weaker moments at the beginning. Despite all the previous complaining, however, Searching earns a decent three stars. Overall impression: 60%. (27.06.2019)

Die Idee ist zwar nicht mehr originell, aber auch so wird ihr Potenzial maximal genutzt. Der Film hat ein gutes Tempo und das Publikum den Eindruck, dass es zusammen mit dem Haupthelden auf der Suche ist. Eine unerwartete Wende habe ich erwartet, ich wusste nur nicht, wie sie aussehen wird. Ich bin aber froh, dass der Film so ein Ende hat, weil ich wahrscheinlich kein anderes sehen will. Nur die Musik hat mich ein wenig gestört. Sie war zwar gut, hat aber das Gefühl von Authentizität verringert. (21.05.2020)

Interesting experiment. Formally, it’s very good, even though the tone is quite ambiguous and the revelation of the mystery perhaps is too wannabe shocking. But as a portrayal of the stupid social networks and their users (yeah, I’m one of them), and the social numbness of today, It’s certainly effective and realistic. (21.11.2018)

I had a healthy dose of skepticism before watching this, as I don't consider these kind of film formats full-fledged and instead feel like they themselves are actually confining and limiting. However, Searching is a very bright exception. First of all, it boasts a very decent screenplay, which at some points strips the whole story of any predictability and serves up a decent dose of suspense through the "mere" computer screen. Sure, it would most likely work as a standard genre film (if it had been shot in a conventional way), but then the overall resonance would remain hidden somewhere in the background. In fact, the message of the whole film is directly tied to its form, which you won't fully appreciate until the end, and maybe a few hours/days after watching it, when you'll think about it all a bit more deeply. An urgent indictment of the Internet, and the digital age in general, or just a detective story cunningly put into an unconventional form? Quite possibly a little of each, but either way a very intelligent and impressive affair that fans of a good thriller should definitely not miss. (14.02.2019)