The 2023 mystery thriller Missing has captivated audiences with its innovative storytelling that unfolds entirely across computer and phone screens. Directed by Nicholas D. Johnson and Will Merrick, this standalone sequel to 2018’s Searching follows a teenager named June (Storm Reid) who uses her internet sleuthing skills to investigate the disappearance of her mother Grace (Nia Long) while on vacation in Colombia with her new boyfriend Kevin (Ken Leung).
If you were enthralled by Missing‘s suspenseful plot, creative format, and themes of trust, deception, and the lengths people will go to protect their secrets, here are 15 other movies that deliver similar thrills:
1. Searching (2018)
The most obvious movie to watch after Missing is its predecessor Searching, written and directed by Aneesh Chaganty. Also told entirely through digital screens, this gripping mystery stars John Cho as a father desperately searching for his missing 16-year-old daughter with the help of a police detective (Debra Messing).
Searching pioneered the “screenlife” format that Missing emulates so successfully. It keeps you on the edge of your seat as it slowly unravels the truth behind the daughter’s disappearance through web searches, video chats, and social media activity. The emotional father-daughter relationship grounds the technological storytelling in authentic human drama.
2. Run (2020)
Another film by Missing creator Aneesh Chaganty, Run is a psychological thriller starring Sarah Paulson as an overprotective single mother homeschooling her chronically ill teenage daughter Chloe (Kiera Allen). As Chloe grows more independent and suspicious of her mother’s controlling behavior, she begins to uncover disturbing secrets about her past.
Like Missing, Run centers on a fraught mother-daughter relationship and the gradual revelation that a parent may not be what they seem. It’s a taut, tense two-hander elevated by riveting performances from Paulson and Allen. Subtle references in Missing even confirm that Run exists in the same cinematic universe.
3. Unfriended (2014)
Unfriended is a found-footage horror film that also takes place entirely on a computer screen. During a group Skype call on the anniversary of their classmate Laura Barns’ suicide, a group of high school students are terrorized by a mysterious entity using Laura’s account.
While more supernatural in nature than Missing, Unfriended is a key forerunner of the screenlife genre. It builds slow-burn suspense and dread through glitchy video chats, ominous messages, and disturbing Facebook posts. The film offers biting commentary on cyberbullying, with the teens’ cruel digital behavior returning to haunt them, figuratively and literally.
4. Host (2020)
Set during the COVID-19 lockdowns, Host is another screenlife horror movie that plays out over a Zoom call. A group of friends, bored and isolated in quarantine, decide to hold a remote séance. But when they inadvertently summon an evil spirit, their call descends into deadly terror.
Shot remotely with the actors in their own homes, Host makes eerily effective use of the glitchy, voyeuristic Zoom format to generate scares. Like Missing, it feels extremely of the moment in its depiction of life and communication during a pandemic. The film also shares Missing‘s interest in the way digital technology can both connect us and make us vulnerable.
6. Gone Girl (2014)
David Fincher’s psychological thriller, based on the novel by Gillian Flynn, centers on the media circus that erupts after Amy Dunne (Rosamund Pike) goes missing on her fifth wedding anniversary. As her husband Nick (Ben Affleck) becomes the prime suspect, a complex web of secrets and lies begins to unravel.
While not a screenlife film, Gone Girl shares Missing‘s fascination with the way a missing person case plays out in the digital age, especially once the media and internet sleuths get involved. It’s a twisty, provocative exploration of marriage, gender roles, and public perception. Pike is chilling as the mysterious Amy, a woman who understands the power of crafting her own narrative.
7. Breakdown (1997)
This 90s thriller stars Kurt Russell as Jeff, a man driving cross-country with his wife Amy (Kathleen Quinlan). When their car breaks down and Amy hitches a ride to a diner to call for help, she mysteriously vanishes. As Jeff searches for her, he realizes she may have been kidnapped and no one can be trusted.
Breakdown is a taut, suspenseful missing person story in the Hitchcockian tradition. Like Missing, it preys on the fear of a loved one suddenly disappearing without a trace. Russell is excellent as an ordinary man thrust into a nightmarish situation, racing against time as he descends deeper into a sinister conspiracy.
8. Flightplan (2005)
Jodie Foster stars as Kyle, a recently widowed aviation engineer flying from Berlin to New York with her young daughter Julia. When Julia vanishes mid-flight and no one on board remembers seeing her, Kyle becomes increasingly desperate and paranoid as she searches for answers.
Set almost entirely on a plane, Flightplan is a claustrophobic missing person mystery that keeps you guessing until the end. Foster gives a fierce, emotionally raw performance as a mother on the edge, facing every parent’s worst nightmare. Like Missing, the film questions the reliability of memory and perception, as Kyle wonders if she can even trust her own mind.
9. Prisoners (2013)
When their young daughters go missing on Thanksgiving, two families are plunged into a waking nightmare. As the police investigation stalls, one of the fathers (Hugh Jackman) takes matters into his own hands, pushing moral and legal boundaries in his desperate search for answers.
Directed by Denis Villeneuve, Prisoners is a gripping, emotionally intense thriller that explores the depths of grief, rage, and obsession. Like Missing, it shows the psychological toll a disappearance can take on those left behind. Jackman is riveting as a man consumed by finding his child at any cost, while Jake Gyllenhaal brings weary soulfulness to his role as the detective on the case.
10. The Vanishing (1988)
George Sluizer’s Dutch-French psychological thriller follows Rex (Gene Bervoets), a man who becomes obsessed with discovering the fate of his girlfriend Saskia after she disappears without a trace during a holiday road trip.
The Vanishing is a chilling, unforgettable portrait of all-consuming obsession and the banality of evil. Its villain, Raymond (Bernard-Pierre Donnadieu), is an ordinary family man harboring monstrous urges beneath his mild-mannered surface. The film’s gut-punch ending is not easily forgotten. Like Missing, it suggests that the truth behind a disappearance may be more horrifying than we can imagine.
11. Gone Baby Gone (2007)
Ben Affleck’s directorial debut, based on the Dennis Lehane novel, stars Casey Affleck and Michelle Monaghan as two private investigators searching for a missing four-year-old girl in a rough Boston neighborhood. As they navigate a complex web of corruption and moral ambiguity, they are forced to question their own ethics and beliefs.
Gone Baby Gone is a gritty, thought-provoking mystery that offers no easy answers. Like Missing, it delves into the dark underbelly of a community and the secrets people keep. The film features stellar performances from its ensemble cast, including Amy Ryan as the missing girl’s troubled mother. Its powerful ending will linger with you long after the credits roll.
12. The Girl on the Train (2016)
Based on the bestselling novel by Paula Hawkins, this psychological thriller stars Emily Blunt as Rachel, an alcoholic divorcée who becomes embroiled in a missing person investigation. From the window of her daily train commute, Rachel grows obsessed with a seemingly perfect couple, Megan (Haley Bennett) and Scott (Luke Evans). When Megan goes missing, Rachel inserts herself into the case, but her memories of that night are hazy and unreliable.
Like Missing, The Girl on the Train is a twisty mystery that keeps you guessing until the final reveal. It’s an intriguing exploration of voyeurism, addiction, and the stories we tell ourselves. Blunt gives a raw, vanity-free performance as the unraveling Rachel, a woman struggling to piece together a fragmented reality.
13. Keane (2004)
Damian Lewis stars as William Keane, a mentally unstable man searching for his missing daughter in New York City. As he wanders the streets putting up flyers and questioning strangers, Keane’s grip on reality begins to fray. He finds a tenuous connection with a financially strapped woman (Amy Ryan) and her young daughter, but his volatile behavior threatens to alienate them.
Keane is a grim, emotionally grueling character study of a man consumed by grief and delusion. Like Missing, it questions the reliability of perception and memory, as we are never quite sure what is real and what is the product of Keane’s fracturing psyche. Lewis gives a fearless, haunting performance in the title role, capturing both the character’s anguish and his capacity for sudden, explosive violence.
14. Changeling (2008)
Directed by Clint Eastwood, this fact-based period drama stars Angelina Jolie as Christine Collins, a single mother in 1920s Los Angeles whose son Walter goes missing. When the police return another boy claiming to be Walter, Christine is convinced it’s not her son. But the corrupt LAPD dismisses her claims, even having her committed to a psychiatric ward when she refuses to accept their version of events.
Changeling is a gripping, infuriating true story of institutional gaslighting and injustice. Like Missing, it centers on a mother’s relentless quest for the truth in the face of a system that wants to silence her. Jolie gives one of her finest performances as the determined, unbreakable Christine, a woman who becomes an unlikely crusader for change.
15. Spree (2020)
This dark comedy thriller stars Joe Keery as Kurt, a rideshare driver and wannabe social media influencer. Desperate for viral fame, Kurt livestreams himself on a murderous rampage, killing his passengers for likes and follows. As the night unfolds, a stand-off develops between Kurt and a quick-witted teen passenger, Jessie (Sasheer Zamata), who fights to survive and stop his bloody spree.
Shot entirely from smartphones, dashboard cameras, and livestreams, Spree shares Missing‘s screenlife format and interest in the dark side of internet culture. It’s a pitch-black satire of clout-chasing and our collective obsession with online attention. Keery is chilling as the narcissistic Kurt, a psychopath born of toxic digital spaces. Like Missing, the film implicates us as viewers, asking what it says about us that we can’t look away.
These 15 movies share DNA with Missing in their innovative formats, gripping mystery plots, and provocative themes. From screenlife thrillers that exploit the scary potential of digital technology to more traditional missing person stories that explore the emotional fallout of a disappearance, they all tap into the primal fear of a loved one vanishing without a trace.
Some, like Searching, Run, and Unfriended, directly paved the way for Missing‘s creative storytelling approach. Others, like Gone Girl, Prisoners, and Changeling, use similar hooks – a sudden disappearance, a media frenzy, a desperate search for answers – to weave their own dark, twist-filled tales.
Whether you’re looking for more screenlife scares, gritty crime dramas, or haunting psychological thrillers, these films are sure to satisfy any Missing fan. They’ll keep you captivated – and probably a little paranoid – until the final frame. Just maybe keep your phone close and your loved ones closer.
