Megan Is Missing
Megan Is Missing is a 2011 American psychological horror film edited, co-produced, written and directed by Michael Goi.[1] The film revolves around the days leading up to the disappearance of Megan Stewart (Rachel Quinn), a popular high school student in North Hollywood who decided to meet a boy that she was interacting with online in person, and the subsequent investigation launched by her best friend Amy Herman (Amber Perkins). The film is presented by way of "found footage".[2]
| Megan Is Missing | |
|---|---|
 Theatrical poster | |
| Directed by | Michael Goi |
| Produced by | Mark Gragnani |
| Written by | Michael Goi |
| Starring | Amber Perkins Rachel Quinn Dean Waite Jael Elizabeth Steinmeyer Kara Wang |
| Cinematography | Keith Eisberg Josh Harrison |
| Edited by | Michael Goi |
Production company | Trio Pictures |
| Distributed by | Anchor Bay Films |
Release date | May 2011 |
Running time | 89 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
Although filmed in 2006, the film did not find distribution until Anchor Bay Films gave it a limited theatrical release in 2011.[3] Marketed as an educational film, upon its May 2011 release, Megan Is Missing was banned in New Zealand, and was heavily criticized by critics for its exploitative nature, poor acting, the graphic violence inflicted upon the child protagonists, and for oversexualizing the lives of young teenagers.
Goi based the film on a series of real life cases of child abduction and emphasized that his reason for highlighting the violence was to unnerve people in order for the viewer to understand the modern risks that children are exposed to online. Goi wrote the script in ten days and shot the film over the course of a week. Because of the graphic content, he requested that the parents of the predominantly young cast were on set during filming so that they were fully aware of their children's involvement in the project.[4]
Plot
Megan Stewart, a popular 14-year-old girl, is well known and liked among her peers and is an honors student. However, Megan lives a double life — she is a drug addict, a victim of child sexual abuse, and has a turbulent relationship with her mother, who never forgave Megan for reporting her husband to authorities for molesting her at 9 years old, which led to his imprisonment. Amy Herman, her innocent best friend, is an outcast who doesn't want to fully let go of her childhood which causes her to be ridiculed by Megan's more troublesome friends.
Amy, struggling with her insecurities, clings to her relationship with Megan as a lifeline to social acceptance. The two regularly communicate by web chat cameras or cell phone. While talking to one of her friends via web cam, Megan is introduced to a 17-year-old boy named Josh in a chatroom. Desperate for love and approval, Megan finds herself intrigued and attracted to him. On January 14, 2007, Megan goes to meet Josh in person behind a diner, and she is never seen again. Police investigate her disappearance, but soon begin to give up after finding few leads and begin to assume she simply ran away.
However, Amy believes otherwise and talks online with Josh to find out if he knows about Megan's fate. She finds his answers regarding her suspicious. After seeing security footage of her kidnapping, Amy tells the police about Josh and his possible involvement in her disappearance, which re-sparks the investigation. Josh confronts Amy and threatens her, saying he is watching her. Subsequently, disturbing images of Megan being tortured while immobilized in a contraption begin to appear on an online fetish forum. Three weeks after her disappearance, Amy visits a personal hiding spot underneath an old bridge where she and Megan used to tell each other secrets and begins to record a video diary. Right before the video ends, someone is seen about to grab her. It is revealed that Amy had disappeared as well. Investigators find her video camera in a garbage can near her hiding spot.
In unedited footage found on the camera, Josh unlocks a large door in a basement where he has been hiding Amy, in her underwear and chained to the wall. He makes her eat food in a dog bowl before he violently rapes her. He later returns to apologize, and says he will let her go. He then shows her a barrel and tells her to get into it so that she will not know where he lives when they leave. After Josh opens up the barrel, Amy runs away screaming as she sees Megan's rotting corpse inside. Josh grabs Amy and forces her into the barrel along with Megan's body before locking it. He loads the barrel into the car and then drives to a forest, where he digs a large hole as Amy screams and begs for her life. Josh pushes the barrel into the hole and fills it up before walking away, leaving Amy to die.
During the ending credits, a clip shows Megan and Amy relaxing on a bed together, talking about their plans for the future.
Cast
- Amber Perkins as Amy Herman
- Rachel Quinn as Megan Stewart
- Dean Waite as Josh
- Jael Elizabeth Steinmeyer as Lexie
- Kara Wang as Kathy
- Brittany Hingle as Chelsea
- Carolina Sabate as Angie
- Trigve Hagen as Gideon
- Curtis Wingfield as Ben
- April Stewart as Joyce Stewart
- Reyver Huante as Bill Herman
- Tammy Klein as Louise Herman
- Lauren Leah Mitchell as Callie Daniels
- Kevin Morris as Detective Simonelli
- Craig Stoa as Leif
- Jay Gragnani as The Boy In Video
Production
Casting
The majority of the cast of Megan Is Missing were inexperienced or first-time actors. Rachel Quinn and Amber Perkins were cast in the roles of the doomed Megan and Amy. The role of the villain, Josh, was given to Dean Waite, an Australian actor. Quinn had starred in several commercials, industrials, and student films prior to filming, but this film was her first professional acting experience. It marked the feature film debut of Perkins who had previously only done background work for television shows and commercials.[5]
Ban in New Zealand
In October 2011, the New Zealand Censorship Board (OFLC) banned Anchor Bay's release of this film by classifying it as 'objectionable'. They claimed that it contained sexual violence and sexual conduct involving young people to such an extent and degree, and in such a manner that if it was released it would be 'injurious to the public good'. They went on to say that it relished in the spectacle of one girl's ordeal, including a three-minute rape scene. They also stated that it sexualized the lives of young teenage girls to a 'highly exploitative degree'.[6]
Reception
Megan is Missing received generally negative reviews by critics. In a positive review for The Leaf-Chronicle, film critic Jamie Dexter[7] compared the film to the Paranormal Activity franchise and The Blair Witch Project (1999) and praised the storyline, stating "It took days for me to shake the horrible feeling this movie left in me, but that just means it was effective in what it set out to do — show this very real and plausible scenario of how internet predators work." In a negative review for the Oklahoma Gazette, Rod Lott[8] mostly criticized the characterization and portrayal of Megan, stating:
- "Here, the only thing writer/director Michael Goi achieves is making Megan 100 percent repugnant from the start. You don’t care about her because he goes out of his way to present her as the kind of kid who probably deserves a good punch to knock her off her pedestal. Honestly, I was so sick of hearing her speak her petty, self-absorbed yapping, I couldn't wait for her to go missing. This is amateurish trash disguised as an “important” message movie."
He then goes on to condemn the acting from the rest of the cast:
- "Although fictional, “Megan Is Missing” aims to deliver the currently in-vogue cinema-verite experience, where the entire thing is assembled through supposedly found footage, from camcorders and smartphones to surveillance tapes and newscasts, not to mention one photograph that comes off as a punch line, although that’s clearly not its intent. It doesn’t help that the movie is so poorly acted, it feels like a put-on. When we see a news report on actors re-creating an abduction, the meta mistakenly leaps to self-parody.
Beyond Hollywood and DVD Verdict also panned the film, with Beyond Hollywood calling it "majorly disappointing" and DVD Verdict stating that they "[wished] this disc had been missing from the box".[9][10] HorrorNews.net gave a more positive review, saying that the first portion of the film "really works", although they felt that the final twenty-two minutes "went a little overboard".[11]
Criticism was directed at the acting, writing, cinematography, directing, and font choices, as well as numerous production mistakes; for example, the boom mic can be seen in several shots and director Michael Goi can be heard saying "Action!" during one scene.
References
- "FEATURE: "MEGAN IS MISSING" Surfing the Internet is a deadly trip in Michael Goi's chilling cautionary tale". Fangoria #312. Archived from the original on 1 October 2013. Retrieved 8 June 2013.
- "TIFF: Anchor Bay Buys 'Megan is Missing'". The Wrap. Retrieved 8 June 2013.
- "Lammle Theaters the finest in film since 1938". The Los Angeles Times. April 16, 2011. Retrieved May 22, 2019.
- Heller-Nicholas, Alexandra (2014). Found Footage Horror Films: Fear and the Appearance of Reality. McFarland. p. 56. ISBN 9780786470778.
- Ago, Alessandro (July 14, 2009). "SCA Alumni Screening Series: MEGAN IS MISSING". USCCinematic Arts. Retrieved May 5, 2018.
- "Asia Pacific Censorship News: Megan Is Objectionable... "New Zealand film censor bans Megan is Missing"". Melon Farmers. Retrieved December 9, 2013.
- Dexter, Jamie (May 13, 2011). "'Found footage' flicks amp up the scary factor". The Leaf-Chronicle. Retrieved May 22, 2019.
- Lott, Rod (April 29, 2011). "Megan Is Missing". Oklahoma Gazette. Retrieved 8 June 2013.
- Rigney, Todd. "Encapsulated Cinema: Megan is Missing, El Monstro Del Mar, and Grave Encounters". Beyond Hollywood. Archived from the original on 21 October 2013. Retrieved 8 June 2013.
- "Review: Megan Is Missing". DVD Verdict. Archived from the original on 21 October 2013. Retrieved 8 June 2013.
- Van Croft, Angel. "Film Review: Megan Is Missing (2011)". HorrorNews.net. Retrieved 8 June 2013.