It’s been a great month of Asian American representation on the big screen, and the cinematic revolution continues with Searching, a thriller starring John Cho. You’ve never seen a thriller like this: shot in a hyper-modern style, Searching is completely “set” in the computer screen of David Kim (John Cho), and his teenage daughter, Margot (Michelle La). As they grieve the loss of their wife and mother, we’re invited directly to the private perspectives of their Internet and social media communications – including FaceTime video calls, text messages, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and Tumblr. When Margot goes missing one day, these online documentations of her life become the urgent and alarming base of David’s investigations. Digging deep into our failures at communicating in the social media age, Searching is a novel and poignant movie with more than a few suspenseful twists up its sleeve.
