Missing is a 2023 thriller film directed and written by Will Merrick and Nick Johnson, based on the story by Sev Ohanian and Aneesh Chaganty.
It features Storm Reid as June Allen, a teenager who investigates the disappearance of her mother, Grace Allen, during a vacation with her boyfriend, Kevin.
The film belongs to the same cinematic universe as Merrick and Johnson’s previous films, Searching and Run, and contains several references to them, such as the appearance of David Kim from Searching. The film also has a hidden cameo of Green Angel, a superhero vigilante character created by Merrick and Johnson.
Similar to Searching, Missing employs the screen-based storytelling technique, where the main character’s computer screen serves as the primary narrative device. This also enables the filmmakers to include a background subplot that is unrelated to the main plot but adds an element of intrigue.
In Searching, this subplot involved a potential alien invasion that was hinted at through news headlines and Google searches. The filmmakers continued this subplot in Missing, but instead of an alien invasion, they created a story about a vigilante superhero called Green Angel. This is a fun Easter egg for fans, but it has no bearing on the plot of Missing.
Green Angel has replaced the alien invasion as the subject of media attention since Searching. The superhero is committed to combating the aliens, despite the widespread skepticism and dismissal of the sightings as a conspiracy theory.
The story of the superhero is conveyed through news headlines, social media posts, and Google search suggestions. The alien storyline is also referenced in a dialogue between Grace and Kevin.
The filmmakers of Missing decided to extend the alien invasion story from Searching to establish the link between the films and confirm their shared universe. The Green Angel storyline, although irrelevant to Grace’s disappearance, does not interfere with the main plot and offers fans an opportunity to explore and speculate on it.
The Green Angel story provides new information that was not revealed in the 2018 film about the alien invasion. Some of the headlines imply that the alien invasion was a hoax, and that Green Angel’s bright green lights were mistaken for aliens.
However, some online users in the film suspect that the superhero is a diversion from the real aliens that are conquering the world in Missing. The Green Angel plot does not resolve the alien invasion mystery, but it creates more potential scenarios for future films.
About Missing
Missing is a 2023 American screenlife thriller film written and directed by Will Merrick and Nick Johnson (in their feature directorial debuts) from a story by Sev Ohanian and Aneesh Chaganty, who also produced the film with Natalie Qasabian.
The film is a standalone sequel to Searching (2018). It stars Storm Reid, Joaquim de Almeida, Ken Leung, Amy Landecker, Daniel Henney, and Nia Long. Its plot follows June Allen, a teenager who tries to find her missing mother after she disappears on vacation in Colombia with her new boyfriend.
No Comments on The Mystery of Green Angel: Alien Invasion Subplot in ‘Missing’ Explained