Nicholas D. Johnson and Will Merrick (Searching) co-direct this cyber mystery about June (Storm Reid), whose mother, Grace (Nia Long), goes missing during a trip with new boyfriend, Kevin (Ken Leung), during a Colombian vacation. Desperate to find her mother, June turns to online sleuthing, but her search reveals a mother with secrets. (111 min.)

• Photo Courtesy Of Stage 6 Films
• DIGITAL SLEUTHS June (Storm Reid, left) and her best friend, Veena (Megan Suri), use their cyber skills to search for June's missing mother, in Missing, screening in local theaters.

Glen I saw Johnson and Merrick's Searching when it came out and thought it was a pretty good, albeit gimmicky, cyber mystery. Now the writers of that film are writing and directing this new cyber thriller/mystery, and once again much of the film plays out on a computer screen. When it began, I was pretty sure I wasn't going to enjoy it, but as it moved along, I found myself engrossed in this story that digs deep into what a tech savvy-person can accomplish from behind a keyboard. Some of it is predictable, but overall, I was surprised as one layer after another was peeled back, revealing new revelations about June's mom, Grace, and her past. As mysteries go, I thought it was pretty effective at keeping audiences guessing.

Anna I will say I didn't predict the big reveal, and there were some moments where I thought, "Huh? Didn't see that coming!" But overall, I felt about four steps ahead of June the whole time. There's some pretty clunky writing, and what feels to me like some pretty lazy filmmaking. Watching someone else's computer screen just isn't my jam. It does manage to entertain, and I will give the filmmakers some credit—I didn't see what was ultimately coming. I still found the fundamentals pretty problematic and felt like the writers found their twist too far into the plotline. I had forgotten that I watched Searching until I recognized the format. Maybe I'm just too familiar with missing person stories from my waist-deep knowledge of true crime, but June is not an amazing sleuth.

Glen Your murderino-ism is showing, Anna! Unless you're as obsessive as my wife, who loves all things crime, Missing probably won't telegraph its plotline as much she thinks it does. Sure, there were times where you could see the setup. For instance, when Kevin buys a lock at the hardware store, I had a theory about it that turned out to be correct, but there were enough red herrings and misleading tangents to keep non-murderinos surprised. It also had a pretty good emotional payoff. It's not going to win an Oscar, but if you like a mystery and don't mind it wrapped in a gimmick, this is worth a matinee ticket.

Anna I mean, I'll take it. At least there was some semblance of a plot twist and enough going on to keep the pace up. My favorite part was probably Javi (Joaquim de Almeida)—the Colombian equivalent of a Taskrabbit—who June hires for $8 an hour to do investigative dirty work in her mother's last known locale. June is also having a meltdown over how terribly she treated her mom and how little appreciation she had for her. Funds dwindling, desperation rising—it all feels pretty intense. Her mom's friend Heather (Amy Landecker) also seems to be oddly unhelpful and pretty cagey around the whole thing, and June's friend Veena, while supportive, also doesn't know how to sort out the truth when it's revealed that Grace has a murky past. I'm not saying it's a terrible movie, but anyone who has gone down the rabbit hole into the Instagram of an ex's new flame could suss out the information that June found over days. Appreciate your parents, kids! And keep those grades up!

Senior Staff Writer Glen Starkey and freelancer Anna Starkey write Split Screen. Glen compiles listings. Comment at [email protected].