Searching Review - Down The Rabbit Hole

To put it vilely, Searching is artistic porn. No, I’m not talking about the gorgeous palaces of Mewar or Bundelkhand where Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s mind lingers. I’m talking about how wholly satisfactory it is to see what all the human brain can conjure up. Of course, the brain in question, is director Aneesh Chaganty, whose mad vision plays out entirely on four screens - first, a MacBook operating system. Secondly, a mobile phone. Thirdly, a news channel and lastly a prison camera. It’s risky, to completely rely on the power and sheer beauty of a laptop’s interface to sell your artistic vision.

But it is the conviction with which Aneesh, who’s also co-written the film, drives his vision, that works. It’s the keen eye with which he’s observed the devices our faces are always buried into, that instantly engulfs you. Searching is a technician’s marvel, because each letter, each icon and each image on that screen is right where it’s supposed to be. So, when David Kim (John Cho) searches things on Google - everything shows up, including those annoying click-bait websites. It’s inspired, and the disoriented, disjointed and realistic storytelling is intriguing.

The basic story is inspired by Taken. David’s daughter of 15 years, Margot (Michelle La), has gone missing. David, aided by Detective Rosemary Vick (Debra Messing), starts to uncover the web of lies that his daughter had spun. But instead of weaving a cautionary tale on the evils of the web, Chaganty writes a love letter, both to the world, online and offline. He revels in the world he’s created online, showing us different websites - such as Venmo and YouCast. He tells his story through a darker lens, but the storytelling tones and textures are one of admiration.

As he tells it, it’s not the online that’s dark and scary, but the people who inhabit it. Offline, he writes a love letter to the power that holds the bonds between a parent and their child together. This, being a rather safe trope in the Hollywood genre, is one of the film’s setbacks because David and Margot’s awkward relationship only brims the surface of human complexities and ends up remaining superficial (something that renders the climactic heroism rather abrupt). The film’s structure of storytelling, instills within the viewers, a sense of pleasure.

The pleasure of watching David (though in dire circumstances) sift through his daughter’s personal life, is something that we’ve all lived in one way or the other - which is Chaganty’s withering critique on the temptation we have to check our acquaintances’ devices; their social media - perhaps deconstructing the entire idea of security. In a brilliantly crafted sequence, where David accesses Margot’s Facebook, Aneesh renders the concepts of ‘passwords’ online completely useless.

But, ultimately, within its genre - Searching is safe and by-the-books. The only exception to that is John Cho, whose stupendous turn is an introverted father who is forced to take matters into his own hands, is the film’s victory. Cho’s performance is surprisingly self-aware, and his energy almost mocks the Liam Neeson persona from Taken. He, aided by Debra Messing, as a catty and insecure officer, charges the film with its uniquely delicate and raw textures. Without him, Searching might have only been a marvel to look at, but not experience.

The climactic twist is especially smart - a take on the classic, ‘Not everything is as at seems.’ Within the first twenty minutes of the film, Chaganty hints at the climactic reveal, almost taunting us to believe that a guy with big guns has kidnapped David’s daughter (as the genre would have you believe). But, Searching humanises each one of its characters, and doesn’t leave them to be cardboard caricatures with no other purpose than to inhabit the screen and sometimes type out dialogues.

The screen that the film is set on, has a very lived-in texture, be it the Windows XP from 2005 or the newly designed Apple Operating Systems. In that sense, Searching might just be the first relatable thriller, that won’t sprout three more sequels of the same, relentless jargon. It’s surprising, to see something so mundane transform into the thing of riveting cinema. It’s a refreshing attempt at reviving a genre that’s lost upon this new generation, and making it relevant.

The parable here is not about the effects of the internet on our children or the secrets we hide; but it is indeed a cautionary tale on detachment and drifting apart; where you’d rather send meaningless texts than have meaningful conversations - ironically the selling point of social media.

Then, Chaganty’s brand of filmmaking is self-aware and ironical. A self-assured début; I’m going with 4 stars.