One of the more interesting things happen with film right now is when directors decide to tell their filmic stories only through computer and smartphone screens. It’s an interesting reflection of how most of us live our lives, and is also, logistically, a really interesting way to construct a narrative. DirectorAneesh Chaganty’s upcoming thriller,Searching, uses this format to breathe new life into a story about a kidnapped teenage girl, withJohn Chostarring as her frantic father. Our own Steve Weintraub spoke with both Chaganty and Cho at Sundance about the movie, which took two years to edit (you can watch the interviewhere).
In a recentEWinterview with Cho, the publication mentions that, “While the story offers twists and turns in a fast-paced plot, Cho says the most unexpected factor for him watching the film for the first time with an audience at Sundance in January, was that it centered on a second-generation Asian-American family in a story not dealing with their race.” Cho himself added:
“It was incredibly emotional for me. Even though I’ve been doing work that has been in that way pushing boundaries, I felt like this was the glimpse of the end game, to see a complete family. It was a new achievement."
Check out the first trailer below.Searchingalso starsDebra Messing,Joseph Lee,Michelle La, andSara Sohn, and will premiere in theaters August 3rd.
Here’s the official synopsis:
After David Kim (John Cho)’s 16-year-old daughter goes missing, a local investigation is opened and a detective is assigned to the case. But 37 hours later and without a single lead, David decides to search the one place no one has looked yet, where all secrets are kept today: his daughter’s laptop. In a hyper-modern thriller told via the technology devices we use every day to communicate, David must trace his daughter’s digital footprints before she disappears forever.
