Winner of Best Film in the full-length feature category, as much as of the NETPAC Award and Best Supporting Actress Award for Dolly de Leon at the Cinemalaya 2023, “Missing” is also the official Filipino entry for the 2024 Oscars, and an animation that manages to truly stand out due to a number of reasons.
Eric is a young man working as an animator in the Philippines. His life is fairly normal, with him retaining a cramped apartment, a friend which seems to also be something more for him, and a mother who loves him, in the face of Rosalinda. However, Eric is also not only mute, but actually has no mouth at all. When one day, his mother asks him to check on his uncle, Eric finds him dead for days, and his shock leads him again into the nightmare of his childhood years, involving an alien who repeatedly abducts him. If that is not enough, every time he stumbles upon the extraterrestrial, different parts of his body seem to literally go away, with his grip on reality becoming more and more distant.
Carl Joseph E. Papa manages to come up with an animation that combines intricate technique with intense contextual depth and a directorial approach that presents the story in the most captivating fashion. Particularly the concepts of the mouthless young man and the presence of the alien, as much as the rest of the supernatural events that take place in the movie eventually come together in the most shocking and meaningful fashion, in a true testament to the directorial abilities of the filmmaker.
Apart from the comment deriving from the aforementioned, Papa makes a remark on how important is having friends and family close in difficult situations, while the way Eric's relationship with the protagonist progresses in a subtle but also evident fashion, is another trait of the script and direction here. Lastly, the concepts of trauma, grief and the ways people can overcome them are included too, concluding the rather rich context of the animation.
In terms of technique, the rotoscope animation works excellently, with the movement and expressions of the original actors being captured in the best fashion. Carlo Aquino as Eric, Gio Gahol as Carlo and Dolly de Leon as Rosalinda have a wonderful chemistry, with the latter having the most vocal, and probably most memorable role in the movie. The design and movement of the alien are also well-implemented, highlighting the creepiness and that something is lurking behind the creature quite eloquently, without revealing anything, though, until the ideal moment. Ben Tolentino's editing results in a relatively fast pace that suits the overall aesthetics nicely, while the placement of the flashbacks, twists and revelations is equally ideal.
Truth be told, a lot more could be written about the film, but since it is one of those whose twists are its most impactful aspect, the rest are better left for the viewer to discover. What we can easily say, though, is that “Missing” is an excellent film that manages to reinvigorate the genre through its contextual uniqueness, while remaining pleasant to the eye from beginning to end.
