History Film / Missing2023

* TheAggressiveDrugDealer: [[spoiler: James was actually a violent wife beater and an equally violent drug dealer and consumer.]]
* BaitAndSwitch: The film opens with a home video showing a young June interacting with her father, James, who suddenly develops a nosebleed. This, combined with the set-up of the main character dealing with the grief of a loved one being a motivating factor in ''Searching'', leads you to think James died of some disease. [[spoiler: He didn't.]]

* ConMan: Kevin turns out to be one, having spent several years in prison for defrauding several previous women. The police at first don't consider him a suspect, as he used his own name and seemingly told Grace about his criminal past, [[spoiler:but it turns out James hired him to seduce Grace so that he could kidnap her.]]

* DomesticAbuse: [[spoiler: The flashback reveals that James is a drug addict who physically and emotionally abused Grace (whose real name is actually Sarah), as shown with an unedited first video showing James being aggressive to Grace, Grace watching the video of how to cover up bruises and James sending some threatening messages to Grace. This leads to Grace having the police arrest James for drug possession while she escapes with her daughter June, changes her identity with the help of Heather and later lies to June that James died in order to protect her from the truth]].

* {{Foil}}: James Walker to ''Searching'''s Pam Kim, both of whom are the [[DisappearedDad missing]] [[MissingMom parent]] of their movie's respective main teen characters. Where they differ is in their characterizations. [[spoiler:Pam Kim actually ''did'' die of cancer prior to the film's events and was a straight example of DeceasedParentsAreTheBest, from what we see of her through David and Margot's videos. In stark contrast, James not only never died or even had cancer, he was also a violently abusive drug addict who orchestrated Grace's abduction, tried to kill her, and was possibly willing to do the same to June if she didn't go along with his plans]].

* OnceMoreWithClarity: The opening scene features the voices of people close to Grace offering condolences after [[spoiler:James's supposed death. Once his true nature is revealed, the voices are heard again, but they are more comments of sympathy and concern over her escaping James's abuse. Likewise the opening scene with James having the bloody nose was not a symptom of a brain tumor, but instead from his drug use]].

** [[spoiler:James never died of cancer. He was an abusive drug addict that Grace turned in to the police, changing her identity and lying to June about what happened to her father in order to protect her from James. He also orchestrated Grace's abduction as part of a ploy to get June all to himself]].

** Towards the end of the second act, June finds [[spoiler:Heather's]] number was used [[spoiler:in the encrypted text app]], leading June to suspect their involvement in Grace's disappearance. [[spoiler:Heather ends up murdered before June can confront her.]] It then later turns out [[spoiler:Heather was actually being blackmailed and trying to help protect June. She had previously arranged for Grace and June to move from Texas to California under new identities after James' arrest.]]

-> '''I'm not giving up on my Mom!'''

* ShownTheirWork: Like ''Film/{{Searching}}'' before it, the film shows a pretty accurate depiction of the latest [[UsefulNotes/MacOS macOS]] system and modern websites, with realistic graphics and fonts that most other series lack or modify to near-unrecognizableness. Additionally, June's desktop and messages are quite realistic for a teenager in 2022.

** When June revisits Kevin's message to see the photos that he sent her, she rechecks the photos of he and her mother Grace having a trip in Colombia. June then notices that her mother's face is hidden and the first photo is live. When June plays the live photo of her mother looking at the plane, we see in the live photo that her mother slowly turns to look at the camera, revealing her [[spoiler: to be a different woman who Kevin is seemingly having an affair with, meaning that June's mother Grace was never there and the actress that Kevin hired was imprisoning Grace during the trip]].

** June tells Ravi that her father died when she was very young and that she doesn't even remember the funeral. [[spoiler:That's because it never happened, since he was alive all along.]]

** Minor details on the websites show the animators are very familiar with the modern Internet, including a random Pinterest result during one of June's searches, a scam comment on Grace's Instagram page, a "who's here from Reddit" on the livestream of Kevin's death, a "download the app" banner on the dating website, and realistic-sounding comments on the Website/TikTok conspiracy video.

* ContrastingSequelAntagonist: [[spoiler:Detective Vick in ''Searching'' was an AntiVillain who was simply trying to protect her son from being implicated in Margot's disappearance. Here, James Allen is an abusive spouse who resorts to murder to get back to his daughter.]]

* EvilCounterpart: [[spoiler:James Allen]] to ''Searching'''s David Kim. [[spoiler:Both are {{Knight Templar Parent}}s who spy on their daughters' computers to try and find them. David is doing it after Margot is presumably kidnapped and attacked. James is doing it out of violent possessiveness, having abused and kidnapped his wife in revenge and to get at his daughter.]]
* {{Foil}}: James Allen to ''Searching'''s Pam Kim, both of whom are the [[DisappearedDad missing]] [[MissingMom parent]] of their movie's respective main teen characters. Where they differ is in their characterizations. [[spoiler:Pam Kim actually ''did'' die of cancer prior to the film's events and was a straight example of DeceasedParentsAreTheBest, from what we see of her through David and Margot's videos. In stark contrast, James not only never died or even had cancer, he was also a violently abusive drug addict who orchestrated Grace's abduction, tried to kill her, and was possibly willing to do the same to June if she didn't go along with his plans]].

* PlotTwist: [[spoiler:Grace never went to Colombia in the first place and the woman seen with Kevin on the trip is an unwitting actress he hired to pose as her]].
** Also, [[spoiler:James never died of cancer. He was an abusive drug addict that Grace turned in to the police, changing her identity and lying to June about what happened to her father in order to protect her from James. He also orchestrated Grace's abduction as part of a ploy to get June all to himself]].

* SurprisinglyRealisticOutcome: When June hacks into several of Kevin's accounts, she shows the information she gathers to Agent Park, presuming he can use it to find and investigate Kevin. However, he informs June that the FBI can't operate with the information she gave them because she obtained it illegally, and thus it cannot be used in building a case against Kevin.

** Minor details on the websites show the animators are very familiar with the modern Internet, including a random Pinterest result during one of June's searches, a scam comment on Grace's Instagram page, a "who's here from Reddit" on the livestream of Kevin's death, a "download the app" banner on the dating website, and realistic-sounding comments on the TikTok conspiracy video.

** When June's friend impersonates Kevin to recover a password to one of his accounts, the support technician reveals the existing password instead of resetting it. This is almost never possible in real life, and when it is, it's considered a major security risk (for ''exactly'' the reason depicted).
** Accessing a Google account from a new device usually triggers an extra layer of security, which requires verification by phone or alternative method. However, June is able to access Kevin's account from her laptop (which she'd presumably never done before) with only the password.

** When June's friend impersonates Kevin to recover a password to one of his accounts, the support technician reveals the existing password instead of helping to reset it to something new. This is almost never possible in real life, and when it is, it's considered a major security risk (for ''exactly'' the reason depicted).