Missing is a new mystery-thriller movie that just came out on Netflix. Storm Reid plays a girl whose mom goes missing while she and her new boyfriend are on vacation, sending her down a chaotic online rabbit hole.

The movie is a spiritual sequel to the 2018 hit Searching. It was directed by Nicholas D. Johnson and Will Merrick. Even though the stories and characters are different, they are about the same things and take place completely on computer screens.

Fans might be asking if Missing is based on a true story now that they can watch it on Netflix. Read on to learn.

Is The Movie Missing Based On A True Story?

No, Missing is not based on a real story. There have been cases that are “crazier than fiction,” but the one in the movie is not one of them.

The same is true for the movie that came before it, Searching, which is also made up. Aneesh Chaganty directed the first one and wrote the story with Sev Ohanian. Nicholas D. Johnson and Will Merrick, who directed Missing, were the editors.

Chaganty and Ohanian wrote the story for Missing. Instead of a dad trying to find his teenage daughter, like in Searching, the story is about a teenage girl looking for her mom.

Ohanian told Forbes about the choice to hand over the project: “In 2019 when Sony asked us to make the sequel, Aneesh and I were working on other projects.

“We knew Will and Nick were great writers because we read a sample story they wrote for Paramount. So, we wrote a 29-page treatment of Missing from beginning to end, including all of the major plot points, character arcs, and twists, and gave it to them to help them make their screenwriting and directing starts while we stayed on as producers.

Even though Missing isn’t based on a real story, it does have scenes that are inspired by the digital age we live in, especially the online reaction to the news that June’s mom Grace is missing and all the details that come out once the case makes the news.

June has to solve the mystery on her own, with the help of a couple of friends, because dealing with foreign officials is so complicated. Even worse, June is being asked over and over again to tell her side of the story on Reddit, in tabloids, and in-network voicemails.

We’ve seen this happen over and over again when a missing person or murder case makes international news, which usually sets off the internet sleuthing mill.

The story might also seem familiar because it’s a screen-life movie, which means it takes place on a computer screen and has those instantly recognizable sounds for WhatsApp, texting, and social media.

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In an interview with Screen Rant, Reid talked about how difficult this method was, saying, “It was very difficult. I had never shot something where everything happened on the computer, so I had to use different camera angles and make sure all the technical details were right.

“It was a little hard, especially after going through all those feelings in the movie. Since the feelings are high, it was hard to find a way to combine the two. But when I figured it out, it was so much fun.”

How “Missing” is like “Searching” and “Running?”

There are a few Easter eggs in Missing that link it to Searching and Run. In both Missing and Searching, the main characters use laptops, cell phones, and Apple watches, among other popular forms of technology and communication, to solve mysteries and find out about crimes.

June watches a fake Netflix true crime show called “Unfiction.” It talks about how Margot went missing in “Searching” and how her father used the Internet to try to find her. In Missing, there is a short scene that gives a report on what happened to Sarah Paulson’s character after the Run ended.

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The three stories take place in the same world and have similar themes, like keeping secrets from people you care about and how technology can be used in new ways for good in movies like “Missing.”