You Should Watch This Award-Winning Psychological Thriller That's Full Of Easter Eggs

‘Searching’ is an award-winning thriller directed by first time director, Aneesh Chaganty. A former Google employee, Chaganty spent two years working at Google Creative Lab before deciding to pursue his dream of becoming a film director.

When 'Searching' first premiered at Sundance Film Festival earlier this year, it immediately became a hit, bagging multiple prizes including the Alfred P. Sloan Feature Film Prize. The film will be arriving at Malaysian cinemas on 20 September, so make sure you go check it out.

Fun fact: John Cho is the first Asian to land a leading role in a Hollywood thriller.

Two years ago, fans of John Cho created a viral trend called #StarringJohnCho, with the popular Asian actor being photoshopped into mainstream movie posters like 'Mission Impossible' and 'The Avengers'. Now, he has made history as one of the few Asian American actors to actually be the face of a Hollywood blockbuster.

Margot, played by Michelle La, is David's daughter who seemingly lives a normal high school life until she one day disappears. A police investigation is launched, but with things going nowhere, David takes matters into his own hands by looking for clues on his daughter’s laptop.

What follows is a frantic search through his daughter’s social media accounts, texts, and transaction history, as David comes to realise how little he knew his daughter. As time ticks down, he even goes as far as interviewing his daughter’s friends in a desperate attempt to retrace her steps.

Everything feels eerily familiar, from the laptop screen to the apps and social media platforms. And it's almost as though you're made to experience what David Kim had to go through while searching for his lost daughter.

What you see on every screen was created from scratch, be it app icons, individual text messages, or timestamps. That's what makes the movie feel so realistic and believable. The video below gives you an idea of the amount of effort put into creating just one scene.

Every on-screen window, even the ones not in focus, tells part of the story. That means that in addition to writing the dialogue, Chaganty and scriptwriter Sev Ohanian had to plan out nitty-gritty details like email text, subject headers, and article headlines.

What initially started out as inside jokes of friends, family, and cast members ended making the final cut. According to Chaganty, if viewers look hard enough they may also find interesting side stories that add to and thicken the existing plot.

“There’s no prize for you if you figure out everything... but we always wanted these to be just something you might accidentally discover as you went through the film,” says Chaganty.