everything you have heard about this movie is true.

Funny, strange, confrontational and subversive, this is one of the most interesting experiences you'll have at the cinema this year.

One of the worst ways to make a cult movie is to set out to make a cult movie.

It's simply great fun, a winsome film and an occasionally over-the-top luxury fantasy that never flags.

A father hunts social media and the internet for clues to his daughter's disappearance, but has to ask what if she wasn't abducted? What if she simply ran away?We live in a world where our every action, thought and impulse can be broadcast to the world if we chose (or even if we don't). To therefore see a film where that plays into the hands of people on both sides of the criminal spectrum forces the audience to decide as to which side the fence they sit with regard to personal data protection, as well as tackling the effects of catfishing and leading multiple 'fake' lives online.The story circles around the efforts of a recent widower whose daughter isn't returning his calls and appears to have gone missing in an abduction case; however, her social media and banking accounts leads the police to suspect that maybe she ran away. Not content with the version of events, the desperate father follows his own line of enquiry to attempt to uncover what really happened to her.Since we're looking through the online world for the majority of the time, the film has a lot to say on the vindictive nature of a mass online audience with no moral boundaries or sense of individual responsibility. There are the 'Best Dad' memes, the needlessly speculative neighbours who just want their 15 minutes of fame on NBC, the trending 'dad did it' hashtag, the endless "thoughts and prayers", and the flip-flopping of people, through crocodile tears, who now claim to have been best friends his daughter for the sake of 'views' and 'likes'. The way the film is delivered exclusively via laptop screens - from the revelation of a family tragedy via calendar invites to characters' inner thoughts being typed in a text but then deleted - is one of its top strengths and gives it the draw that keeps the audience 100% engaged up to until the final (incredibly satisfying if exposition-heavy) whodunit reveal. It would be wrong, however, to say it was unique or pioneering; let's not forget that 2014's Unfriended did it to a lesser degree than Searching manages.There will be some people who will hate the way it's presented as being on a PC monitor, who won't like the ending twists, who will despise the use of social media as a plot device. I think they're wrong; it's deeply refreshing to see something new, vibrant and different done so well for a change.Best Quote: "It is the police's job - not yours - to act on flakes of evidence."

Loved the way they've used social media to tell the story. Also how it shows how People are so false on social Media. Story is about a young girl whose gone missing and how her recently widowed father sets about using her social media to find out about her life and where she could be. Few twists Along the way. Well worth a watch

Lost patience after 40 minutes and walked out of the cinema. Whoever thought that making a film in this way,namely by showing a computer monitor as a man searches Google and Facebook and iPhone facetime, for the entire film, is completely nuts. Very irritating to watch. It might have been good if it had been made in a normal fashion. I went to see it on a monthly subscription to the local cinema, if I had bought a ticket to see this garbage I would have asked for a refund.

This is a thriller which can certainly be accurately described as original. It takes a fairly typical suspense story about a recently widowed father whose daughter vanishes one night and presents it in a most unique way. The whole film plays out on the computer screen via programs such as Facetime, iMessage, Gmail, Tumblr, Facebook, etc. In this way, it reflects the reality that so many people now live, given that so many nowadays are literally never off their devices. In this way, the film is completely relevant and taps into a scenario most will be able to clearly identify with. The conceit is also terrific in that it accentuates the mystery element of the story, where we stumble upon clues via the various social media platforms. The very limitations of the set-up ultimately amplify the material and take it to another level. I found it to be one of the most original, gripping and compelling thrillers I have seen in quite a while. Lead actor John Cho must be credited too with giving a strong central performance as the grieving father, with some good additional work from Debra Messing as the detective assigned to the case. All-in-all, a fantastic bit of work.