Review: ‘We are the Missing’ runs high on concept, low on pay-off

In episode two (titled “13 Minutes”) of the Unsolved Mysteries reboot, salon owner Patrice Endres vanishes without a trace. And all it took was 13 minutes. Such a narrow window of time has left investigators clueless about what happend, and it appears no one knows a single thing. The notion that 13 minutes is all it took for to disappear is downright bone-chilling. Andrew J.D. Robinson banks hard into such unsettling, real life horror with his new mockumentary We are the Missing. It’s an ambitious conceit, even if the results are limp at best.

When Riley Madison (Chantel Little) goes missing, her mother Angie (Maissa Houri), father John (Mark Templin), and best friend Mackenzie (Willow Mcgregor) scramble to locate her ⏤ to no avail. Meanwhile, the documentary filmmaker Carter (Eleonora Poutilova) soon discovers she bit off more than she could chew as things continue flying off the rails in production. She must then search for answers before it’s too late and she too could be the next victim.

Pockets of utter terror ⏤ from revelations about Riley’s childhood imaginary friend Mikey, who may have come to play again, to an astonishing outward rippling effect ⏤ are few and far between. It’s the implication of a loved one seemingly vanishing out of thin air that’ll run your blood cold. Robinson cobbles together sometimes unnerving imagery with emotional interviews, resulting in a bloated runtime that could used some fat trimming.

What is most fascinating, though, is how We are the Missing inserts mass hysteria into the second half, positing that a grander design or sinister force is at work. It’s not only affecting this stereotypically small American town, but it’s clutches stretch throughout the world. That is what is most frightening. When Robinson taps into such primal, base fear, that’s when the mockumentary works best ⏤ evoking dark, suffocating terror that’s altogether gripping.

Robinson’s mockumentary possesses some truly unsettling sequences and character moments, as they work through their grief, anger, and confusion, but it just doesn’t quite jell as a complete body of work.

We are the Missing is now streaming on Youtube. Watch below.

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