"Ask the Usher" Blu-Ray/DVD Review: Megan Is Missing (2011)

                                                                       Available to view on : Blu-Ray, DVD, Neflix Instant Viewing, PS3 VOD

Megan is Missing is a really unique movie that leaves an indelible impression on the viewer. It's a odd film, but the final twenty-plus minutes are downright chilling and very, very disturbing. I knew nothing about this movie going in to it, and for a while I thought the filmmaker was just using the idea of Internet predators in another bid to cash in on the reality-based movie craze like "Paranormal Activity", "Open Water" and the granddaddy of them all, "The Blair Witch Project" (the film consists of "found footage" from webcams, cell phones, and videotapes). Well before the end, though, it was crystal clear that this was not the case.

The story revolves around two best friends: 14-year-olds Megan (Rachel Quinn) and Amy (Amber Perkins). The girls could not be more different - Megan is a bit of a wild child who has already experimented with drugs and sex, while Amy is mousy, virginal, and inhibited - but their friendship is very real. The two talk numerous times each day over cell phones, webcams, and in person. Amy wishes she could be as uninhibited as Megan, while Megan longs for the stable family life that Amy enjoys.                                 

One of the things Megan likes to do is to chat with boys over the Internet, and it is there that she "meets" Josh. Josh's webcam is conveniently broken, but he certainly seems like a nice guy. Finding him intriguing, Megan accepts his invitation to meet up behind a local diner - and that's the last anyone sees or hears from her. In the days following Megan's disappearance, Amy makes a number of video diaries, deals with Megan's idiotic "friends" and contacts "Josh" herself, who tells her that Megan never showed up to meet him.

At this point, Amy continues probing and wondering about her friend's whereabouts. Three weeks into Megan's disappearance, the news media puts out a video of the diner's security camera and shows the actual abduction. Late that night, "Josh" contacts Amy and that's when he shows his true colors. Amy then alerts authorities of Megan's meeting with "Josh". After this, Amy is once again contacted via one-way webcam, very late at night, by "Josh" who threatens her and her mother. It is at this point that the movie takes a truly chilling turn. The next day, Amy is once again filming a videolog when we see her apparently abducted. Days later, the police find Amy's video camera and we are shown what was recorded and sadly, Megan and Amy's horrific final moments, are revealed.

In closing, this film will not be every one's cup of tea. Some will find it boring or simply too amateurish looking or even plain shocking. There are those of us who will think that it was ridiculously too exploitative. While somewhat true, there is nothing simple about the fates of Megan and her friend Amy in this movie. There is no happy ending, no retribution and the "monster" gets away with it free and clear (the film shows never shows the fate of"Josh"). The film concludes with no sense of justice of any kind for these young girls. The most awful thing about it all is the fact that every incident in this film is based on an actual event - not one single event, but a mixture of a number of different child abduction cases. It is truly horrifying to know that everything that happened to these girls did actually happen to one or more poor children...in real life!

In closing, the filmmaker, Michael Goi, does find a controversial way to communicate the "real" dangers that Internet predators pose to children. And in the end, isn't that message the one that really counts?

                                

C&K Rating: Two Tubs of Popcorn with a small Diet Coke.

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