Starring: Storm Reid, Joaquim de Almeida, Ken Leung, Amy Landecker, Daniel Henney, Nia Long
OUR RATING: ★★★☆☆
Story:
Thriller drama written and directed by Will Merrick and Nick Johnson. Missing (2023) centers on June (Storm Reid), who after her mother, Grace (Nia Long), disappears while on vacation in Colombia with her new boyfriend Kevin (Ken Leung), her search for answers is hindered by international red tape. Stuck thousands of miles away in Los Angeles, June creatively uses all the latest technology at her fingertips to try and find her before it’s too late. But as she digs deeper, her digital sleuthing raises more questions than answers, and when June unravels secrets about her mom, she discovers that she never really knew her at all.
Best Quotes
Grace: Siri, please call Junebug.
June: Mom, you’re already on the phone. This is FaceTime.
June: [to Grace] You know you don’t have to use Siri for literally everything, right?
Grace: Listen, I am running late and I need you to write a couple of things down. The car keys are going to be in the top drawer in the kitchen, and Kevin… I just said write it down. You’re not writing it down. Kevin forwarded you the itinerary. No alcohol. Do not open the door for strangers. And keep your location service turned on the entire time I’m away, do you understand?
June: No fun. Got it.
Grace: You do not understand the sacrifices I made to give you the life you have.
June: Mom, you’re being so dramatic.
Grace: [to June] I just need to know that you’re safe when I’m away.
Heather: [referring to Grace and Kevin] I’m just glad she found someone. You know, Someone nice and cute, cool tech job. I would kill for a guy like that. It’s pretty rough out there. Not that I don’t have my fun. You know what I’m saying?
June: Unfortunately.
Grace: [as June waits at the airport, voice message] Hi, this is Grace Allen. Please leave a message.
June: Mom? Where are you guys? I’ve been standing here forever.
June: Hi. I’m calling about a guest you had. Seeing if they extended their stay.
June: [as the receptionist replies in Spanish] I’m sorry. Does anyone speak English?
Desk Clerk: No. I’m sorry.
June: Knew I shouldn’t have dropped Spanish.
June: Great. Okay, well, the hotel has security footage, but it constantly overwrites. So we have about like six hours until it’s gone. So can you please send an agent over?
Agent Park: I’ll do my best. But keep in mind, the FBI doesn’t have jurisdiction to investigate here in Colombia. So it may take some time while we work with local authorities.
June: I need you to go to this hotel and ask for their security footage. I’m trying to find someone.
Javi: I don’t understand. “Trying to find.”
June: She’s missing.
Javi: I’m only services. Cleaning, electric, you know.
June: Please. Please, it’s my mom. Please.
Javi: You make me think of my son. Never taking no for an answer.
June: Does Kevin give you same-password-for-everything type of vibe?
Veena: Fifty-fifty.
Veena: [as she sees Kevin’s photo on his site] Actually, sixty-forty.
Veena: Why is your mom dating this guy?
June: Heather thinks he’s hot.
Veena: Of course she does.
Javi: [referring to Grace] She dressed up very nice, so the señora asked if they were going somewhere fancy. And guess what your stepfather said.
June: Ew, no. Not my stepfather.
'Just because someone is your parent, it doesn't mean they do not make mistakes.' - Javi (Missing) Share on X
Javi: [referring to Kevin] He says he wants to go to, how do you say, you know, store where shovels and hammers?
June: Wait. A hardware store?
Javi: Si, hardware store.
Veena: On vacation.
Heather: [referring to Kevin] You’re going through his email?
June: Yeah. So?
June: [referring to Kevin] But why would he turn off his locations, Heather? That doesn’t make sense.
June: I think Kevin was cheating.
Javi: “Sheeting”?
June: [referring to Kevin as they look at his blocked emails] This woman calls him Darren. They all want their money back.
Veena: [referring to Kevin] Yoh. Dude’s not cheating. He’s a…
June: He’s a con man.
June: So you weren’t going to tell me my mom was dating a felon?
Agent Park: Look, don’t get me wrong. We are looking into him. But he’s never been involved in a disappearance. And he’s been using his legal name.
June: But don’t you think this is a pretty big coincidence?
Agent Park: Well, keep in mind that all of these cases were from before his prison sentence. And he’s never violated parole.
Agent Park: [to June] Our job is to find your mom, and build a prosecutable case if there’s a crime. So we got to do this the right way. You need to trust me on this.
June: [referring to Kevin] And did he ever mention my mom anytime?
James: Mention? I mean, he hasn’t shut up about her since they first met. She seemed really good for him.
June: You don’t think this was just another one of his, you know?
James: Oh, no. I mean, look, Kevin’s worked really hard to put that stuff behind him. It seemed real to me.
June: [referring to Kevin] What did he buy?
Javi: [holding up a padlock] Just this.
June: A lock? Why would he buy a lock?
Javi: Maybe you should tell la policia about the lock. They maybe know something.
June: Sure thing. Peace, Javi.
Javi: Piece of what?
June: No, like peace. Just means goodbye.
Kevin: I’m kind of a social media guy cliché.
Grace: When I look at her, I just see her father, and it’s like… We’ve really been through a lot together. And I just don’t think that I could forgive myself if anything ever happened to her, you know?
Kevin: You seem like a really great mom. One day, she’ll get that.
June: [after seeing footage of Kevin proposing to Grace] You were right. He wasn’t trying to con her.
Agent Park: [to June] We’ve got some bad news.
June: [as she sees footage ofGrace and Kevin being kidnapped] What are they going to do to her?
Agent Park: So they may just want money.
June: So, what now? Is there anything I can do?
Agent Park: Hey, we’re going to find these guys. Okay? The best thing you can do to help us is just wait by your phone. We’ll be in touch.
June: They said something about money, but what if these people hurt her?
Javi: They have no reason to.
June: I’ve already lost one parent, Javi. I can’t lose her too. I didn’t even say goodbye.
Javi: Whatever you are beating yourself over with your mom, it doesn’t change a parent’s love.
Javi: [to June] And, listen, they’re going to find her. I know.
Agent Park: I’m Elijah Park with the FBI. Last evening we determined that US citizen Grace Allen, previously thought to have been kidnapped here in Cartagena, Colombia, was in fact impersonated in an alleged scheme by the suspects behind me. We are now turning to the public for any information regarding the whereabouts of Miss Allen, who we now believe never left Los Angeles.
Veena: So your mom gets in the Uber, they take the 405, and then a totally different woman gets out at LAX. If Kevin did something to her, that’s when it happened. The weird thing is, he only ever stopped for three minutes along the way. He must have had help.
Detective Gomez: According to our friends at the FBI…
Agent Park: Large withdrawals from Miss Allen’s bank account were made after her disappearance.
Detective Gomez: In the meantime, the one person who knows for sure what’s going on here…
Agent Park: Is Mr. Lin.
Agent Park: [referring to Kevin] We find him…
Detective Gomez: And we find Grace Allen.
Agent Park: To the best of your knowledge, your mom has never gone by any other names?
June: No. She’s just Grace Allen. Why?
Erica Jones: Turns out Grace Allen is just one of the mystery woman’s aliases, whose real identity lies locked behind a court-ordered seal.
June: [referring to Grace’s real identity] Why would she keep this from me?
Agent Park: Right now, Grace Allen is not a suspect. That being said, we can’t rule anything out.
Youtube Sleuth #1: She hired Lin and the driver, stages the kidnapping, hides in the trunk, drives off, starts a new life somewhere.
Youtube Sleuth #2: Which we know she’s done once before. I mean, zero known family members, other than the daughter? That’s hella sus.
June: I cannot take this anymore!
Javi: It’s just the Internet, June.
June: No. No. It’s not just the Internet. It’s the police too.
Radio Host: How many tax dollars have been wasted searching for someone who clearly ran away? I mean, her coworker described her as dodgy and guarded about her past.
June: How can people believe any of this? They’re focusing on the wrong person.
Veena: At least they’re trying to help.
Veena: Yeah, but even you said she was hiding something, right? I mean, she knew about Kevin the whole time. Plus the whole identity change…
June: Veena, what the hell?
Veena: No, I just mean that there are some legit questions.
June: There are no questions! This is not a show. This is my mom!
June: [referring to Heather] She was messaging Kevin less than twenty-fours hours ago. Plus she’s been ignoring me since they went missing.
Javi: Breathe. Just breathe. Maybe there is a good answer.
June: And she’s been obsessed with Kevin ever since they met. It’s all making sense.
Javi: June, if you think something is wrong, you need to tell la policia.
June: I have tried!
June: The police are acting like my mom’s some kind of criminal mastermind.
Javi: Pero, maybe right now you need to trust them.
June: What are you saying?
Javi: Just because someone is your parent, it doesn’t mean they do not make mistakes.
June: Oh. I guess you would know, huh? Maybe you gave up on your son. But I’m not giving up on my mom.
Agent Park: [referring to Heather’s murder] Based on the autopsy, whoever did this was there minutes before you arrived. You are lucky to be alive.
June: They must’ve seen the messages I sent to her. They knew I was coming. I just don’t understand why she’d be messaging him.
Agent Park: [referring to Heather] My guess is that she knew something that Kevin didn’t want us to know. She wasn’t willfully messaging him. He was threatening her.
June: And the photos were…?
Agent Park: To keep her quiet. Yeah.
June: She was trying to protect me.
Agent Park: Look, Mr. Lin is the key to all of this. Now, the good news is police may have spotted him near the border, so it might not be long. He is our best chance at finding your mom.
Kevin: [encrypted text message] You can’t just leave me here. I planned all of this just so no one would suspect you. You couldn’t have done this without me. Please, I can’t go back to prison.
Grace: [as June listens to the message] There’s actually a lot I want to talk with you about.
James: Look, there’s a lot to explain. But we don’t know who’s listening.
June: Okay. Well, should I call someone?
James: No, no, no. I don’t know who to trust at this point.
June: Oh, my God. Someone’s here.
James: It’s just me. Don’t worry. It’s going to be okay.
James: [as June sees that he is her father] There are things that you need to know. I can explain everything.
June: [referring to Grace] She told me you were dead.
James: June, you don’t know what she’s capable of. She lied to a judge to have me put in prison so that she could have you to herself.
June: She lied to me.
June: You were in Eastham Prison? In Texas?
James: She took everything from me.
June: But that’s where Kevin was. You weren’t his counselor. You met him in prison.
James: [flashback recording, to Grace] I swear to God, I will find you. And you will die in a pool of your own blood before you take her from me! Do you hear me?!
Grace: If you were going to kill me, you would have done it already.
James: Things have changed.
James: [to Grace] Twelve years, Sarah. Twelve years, I felt just like you feel right now. I wish I could’ve kept you here. But June and I have to go.
Grace: We have to get out of here, do you understand me? He is spiraling. He killed Heather.
June: He killed Heather?
Grace: He’s crazy. He thinks he’s punishing me for what I did to him.
June: [referring to James] What is he going to do to us?
Grace: I don’t know. I don’t even know why he brought you here.
June: Oh, because he knew. He knew I was about to find him.
Javi: Please do not call again. Okay? Bye.
June: No, no, no. Javi, please! I’m sorry about what I said. You did not give up on your son. I found my mom. But we’re running out of time. Please, I need your help.
June: [after James shoots Grace and she stabs him in the neck] Dad, please. Please don’t do this. Please, if you can hear me, just open the door. Please! She needs help! Please! No one has to die. Just please call for help!
June: If anyone can hear me, I am trapped in a room with my mom!
June: [to a gravely wounded Grace] I promise if we could just get home, I’ll be better. I’ll start checking my voicemails. I’ll let you call me Junebug all you want. And I’ll stop making fun of you for using Siri for literally everything.
Grace: [several months after they’ve been rescued] What?
June: Nothing. Just thank you.
Grace: Oh, guess what. Your friend Javi friended me on Facebook.
June: For real? No way.
Grace: Okay. Well, I guess I’ll see you at Union Station tomorrow afternoon.
June: Can’t wait. Bye.
Trailer: