2023 Movies #RANKED | Episode 3 - missing

Follow along as RANKED reviews a new release every week of 2023, slowly compiling the best films of the year into a sacred hierarchical list.

Previous Episode RANKED List:
1. M3GAN
2. Plane

missing follows the digital life of a young girl named June, who, haunted by the death of her father and frustrated with the overbearing protectionism of her mother, is a stereotypically angsty “always on her devices” teen. But when mom goes missing while vacationing with her boyfriend overseas, June gets to work investigating the disappearance herself by utilizing her computer skills.

However, this is a gimmick movie, as we the audience are permanently tethered to her computer screen, making this something of a found footage flick mashed with a Snapchat addicted teenager’s wet hot fever dream, as the only images the audience sees beginning to end originate from the cameras of electronic devices and desktop windows.

And yet somehow even with this limitation, missing isn’t missing anything. It’s got action, romance, suspense, drama, twists and turns as a complex story of kidnapping and crime unfolds before your very eyes while never leaving the jurisdiction of the electronic world.

In fact, the only thing missing is missing is justification for this particular system of informational delivery. Why are we trapped inside a little girl’s computer. Are we a ghost? Are we artificial intelligence? Maybe this film is a brilliant statement forcing us to face our society-wide addiction to screens by literally turning us collectively into one big screen?!?!

Naw, it’s just what they wanted to do because they could, I guess. Hey Siri, how do I get my money back?

Just kidding, this movie is pretty good, but we have some caveats.