A superhero vigilante named Green Angel is hidden in the background of the 2023 thriller film, Missing. The film was directed and written by Will Merrick and Nick Johnson, based on the story by Sev Ohanian and Aneesh Chaganty. Missing stars Storm Reid as June Allen, a teenage girl whose mother, Grace Allen, goes missing while on vacation with her boyfriend, Kevin. While it’s not a sequel, the film exists in the same universe as Merrick and Johnson’s previous films, Searching and Run. There are many Easter eggs connecting the films, including David Kim from Searching at the beginning of Missing.
Like Searching, Missing is told mainly through the main character’s computer as she investigates her mother’s disappearance. This allows for an interesting subplot to go on in the background. In Searching, the story of a possible alien invasion occurs through news headlines and Google searches while David is searching the internet for his missing daughter. Filmmakers decided to keep the story going in Missing, and while they initially planned on a Covid-like storyline, they changed their minds and created a story around a vigilante superhero named Green Angel. While the story is irrelevant to the plot, it’s a fun Easter egg for fans.
The Green Angel Is The Focus Of Missing’s Background Subplot
Since Searching, Green Angel has become the focus of new headlines instead of the alien invasion. The superhero is dedicated to fighting off the aliens even if most of society no longer believes the sightings and has branded it another ridiculous conspiracy theory. The whole story of the superhero is told in news headlines, social media posts, and Google search suggestions. The alien storyline even comes up in a conversation between Grace and Kevin.
Missing filmmakers knew they wanted to continue the alien invasion story from Searching to further connect the films and prove they exist in the same universe. Even though the Green Angel storyline has no real connection to Grace’s disappearance, it doesn’t distract from the main plot and gives fans something to investigate and theorize on.
How Missing’s Green Angel Plot Updates Searching’s Alien Invasion
The Green Angel story updates the alien Invasion storyline by giving new details that weren’t included in the 2018 film. Some of the headlines suggest there never was an alien invasion, and it was actually Green Angel flashing her bright green lights that people were mistaking for aliens. However, some people online in the film believe the superhero is just another distraction from the real aliens taking over the world in Missing. The Green Angel plot doesn’t answer the alien invasion question, but it certainly opens up more possibilities if further movies are to be made.
