*Warning: spoilers ahead*
The 2023 mystery thriller Missing is riding high in the Netflix charts, but does June manage to find her mother by the end of the film? Read on for all the info.
The film is an example of the ‘screenlife’ subgenre, in which the events of the story are shown entirely on computer, smartphone or tablet screens. It is set in the universe of the previous film Searching in 2018, although it acts as a standalone story.
Directed by Will Merrick and Nick Johnson, it stars Storm Reid (A Wrinkle In Time, Euphoria) as June, a teenager who attempts to find her mother after she disappears while on vacation in Colombia with her new boyfriend.
As well as being set in the Searching universe, it also acts as a spiritual sequel to the 2020 film Run, which was directed by Searching’s Aneesh Chaganty. The fates of the characters established in Run are confirmed by the events of Missing.
The film was originally released in January 2023 after premiering at Sundance and grossed $48million (£39million) at the global box office from a budget of $7million (£5.6million).
Missing ending explained: does June track down her mother?
When June’s mother Grace does not arrive back from her Colombian holiday on time, she decides to investigate her disappearance herself.
She hires Javier, a gig worker in Colombia, and sets about hacking into Grace’s new boyfriend Kevin’s online accounts, discovering that he has multiple aliases and a criminal record for scamming women out of their money.
With Javier’s help, she tracks Grace and Kevin’s movements in Colombia. Footage emerges of Grace and Kevin being kidnapped, but June is able to disprove its legitimacy. June becomes suspicious of Grace’s friend Heather and soon finds her dead in her office, while Kevin is shot and killed during a police raid in Colombia.
June cracks the password for her mother’s email, while James shows up, revealing that he is June’s father. June believed he had died when she was a child, but she discovers that he was in fact a drug addict and Grace told her he had died from cancer to protect her. June deduces that James and Kevin spent time in prison together and that James had enlisted Kevin to pose as Grace’s boyfriend so James could find Grace and June.
James kidnaps June and takes her to an abandoned house, where Grace is also being detained. Grace is shot, but manages to fatally stab James, while June calls 911 by using James’ laptop to summon Siri.
As the film concludes, Grace has recovered from her gunshot wound and June is now in college. Their story has been adapted as a true crime series, while Grace and Javier have become friends. The film ends on a text exchange between June and Grace, affirming their renewed bond.
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