TL;DR This film is well versed in how the internet works and makes very smart commentary on how the internet works while having a pretty exciting plot. I would highly recommend this film despite its minor flaws that mainly come from how new this kind of filmmaking is.

Whereas most other films tackle technology with the cynicism of a cranky, old man, Searching feels like a film that was made by someone who actually uses the internet and can make very intelligent commentary about the culture around it. While the premise of filming an entire movie on a desktop sounds incredibly cliche, and the general plot has been abused by the Hollywood formula one too many times, the creative decisions on how the mechanics drive the plot gives this film an incredibly fresh feeling.

I love how the websites and software used in the film were real instead of made up. This choice kept the film grounded in reality and gave legitimacy to the arguments made by the filmmakers. One of my favorite points made by the film was on internet commenters. Yes, there are people on the internet who are ready to comment jokes "so-edgy-that-it-could-cut-an-atom-in-half", but there are also people who try to sympathize with those "crazy people" on YouTube, and Searching understands this mixture so well whereas some other films (Unfriended) believe that the internet is just 4Chan and Liveleak.

This film also touches on topics such as internet fame, media, disconnect between people, and generational gaps with small comments. There arealso small gestures that give the character so much life, like how John Cho's character constantly types "gmail.com", it shows that he is kind of amateur to the internet, but not so much that he can't navigate around it which is in contrast to his daughter who appears to be a typical, tech-savvy teenager, and this dynamic plays into some of the major plot themes. This is small, but there are enough of these where the film becomes incredibly realistic and relatable.

Aside from the filmmaking, John Cho's performance was great along with Debra Messing. I thought the camera movements really helped with the visual storytelling. Music was okay, it wasn't special to me but it did enhance tension and emotion in scenes where it was added.

Other criticisms I have is that the plot is pretty generic. Don't get me wrong, the premise of the film kept it exciting and plenty of the twists were unexpected in my first viewing, but I am waiting for a film to create a plot around the premise rather than vice versa. Also, the use of real websites I feel could be a double edged sword in that it could date the film (remember pagers in The Wire?). The mouse movements were also really robotic and some scenes felt like they were hand feeding connections that the majority of the audience members would have already gotten already.

In conclusion, this is a pioneer film in Desktop Filming or whatever this will be called. This film gives legitimacy to the technique and I am excited to see how it will expanded in the future. But in the meanwhile, give this film a watch.