Ana Gasteyer is back at American Auto’s desk; a cell phone has an entire thriller in Missing

You are missing

(In theaters right now)

Temma Hankin/Screen Gems

SearchingThe 2018 release of, pulled off a clever trick: A micro-budget thriller about a missing child was told entirely through smartphones and screens. This low-stakes film made over $75 million and we now have a sequel about a single mother (Nia Long) gone AWOL, and the increasingly freaked-out daughter (Euphoria‘s Storm Reid) compelled to find her through any means necessary — WhatsApp, TaskRabbit, Siri — as long as the tools to do it exist somewhere in the cloud.

It should be decreasing returns according to the law on franchises and the built-in restrictions in the premise. Instead, You are missing The original IP is given an extra polish. This nimble rework is surprisingly lightweight. (Have we all failed 15 password attempts?). It is also much longer than it really needs to be. Reid’s June is so busy with being a teenager that she doesn’t have the time to bond with her mother. Grace just wants to go to Colombia for a few days and see her new boyfriend Kevin.IndustryKen Leung), allowing her all the freedoms and house parties that a college-bound girl deserves.

Grace is forced to do her own detective work when June and Kevin aren’t available for their return flight to LAX. When Grace begins to dig, she discovers that things are not what they seem down in Cartagena. Directors Nick Johnson and Will Merrick sometimes strain the credulity of what shooting in-screen can do — June’s laptop camera does a lot of heavy lifting — but the movie rarely feels forced or claustrophobic; it’s just a whizzing, cannily of-the-moment spin on a familiar genre, reupped for the Genius Bar age. Grade: B+ —Leah Greenblatt

American Auto

(Premieres January 24th at 8:30 p.m. NBC, season 1 streaming now on Peacock

Greg Gayne/NBC

In its first season, this fiendishly funny sitcom was a low-key delight. I’m so happy NBC brought it back for a second year — and even happier some palpable last-chance-to-shine desperation is filtering directly into the show’s calamity-capitalism plotting. AutoPayne Motors’ CEO Katherine is engulfed by ongoing scandals after’s premiere’ escalates a minor technology snafu.Ana Gasteyer). This hilarious ensemble brings out the worst in everyone. Sadie (Harriet Dyer) tries to spin a press conference — and spins out of control. Cyrus (comedy-sniper Michael Benjamin Washington), takes his feelings into consideration. Wesley (Jon Barinholtz), a klueless scion, mourns the loss of his catamaran. Elliot (Humphrey Ker), confirms his status of the funniest lawyer in this region. The Good FightIt is strongly suggested that Pane staff consider destroying certain documents if they have the time.

Payne’s downward spiral is being resuscitated by the premiere, which sets high stakes in season 2. This show deserves more attention for its quotable zingers. The new crisis manager (Eric StonestreetWhen he talks about an unnamed star client, he says: “Let’s say I am his top guns and to make it seem normal is impossible.” The banter is cheerful; the will-they-or-won’t-they is bit cutesy. But American Auto The company feels like it is edging closer to something more dangerous, with its casts of disastrously unprepared executives pushing their legacy business towards insolvency. There is no bad catamaran joke. B+ —Darren Franich

Accused

(Premieres Jan. 22, 2009 at 9:59 p.m. Fox

Steve Wilkie/FOX Oakes Fegley & Michael Chiklis are in ‘Accused’

True anthologies — think a new story and cast every episode — are largely considered a relic of the ’50s and ’60s, when shows like Fireside Theater, The Twilight Zone, Playhouse – 90?, and Alfred Hitchcock Presents proliferated. Recent decades have seen the success of episodic anthologies falling into the horror and science-fiction category. Goosebumps, Tales from the Crypt, Channel ZeroAnd of course, Black Mirror.

Fox is to be credited for trying something new with this game. Accused. Based on the BBC series of 2010 and developed by Howard GordonHomelandThe crime anthology is a novel way to scare viewers. It tells the stories of people who are well-intentioned but make bad situations worse by “you have to remain silent”.

Every episode is named after the accused — “Ava’s Story,” “Billy’s Story,” etc. — and begins with the protagonist in custody, awaiting legal judgment for his or her crime. These setups are both dark and deceptively simple.Malcolm-Jamal Warner) pressures a detective (Wendell Pierce) to find the man who molested his daughter; a surrogate (Stephanie Nogueras) worries that the deaf baby she carried is not in a safe and loving home; a veteran rock star (Keith CarradineAnne Carlson (his wife) and Evan Gamble (their adult son) attempt to keep their marriage intact after his latest stint at rehab. Undue stress pushes these otherwise decent folks to take ill-advised, often impulsive action — which leads to a chain reaction of moral calamity.

“Scott’s Story,” written and directed by Gordon is the strongest (and most bleak) of five episodes that are available for review. It stars Michael Chiklis An equanimous and compassionate oncologist believes his teenage son (Oakes) is plotting violent revenge against his peers. Contrary to the show’s tendency towards courtroom speechifying and last-minute uplift, the tense hour ends with a disturbingly dark and sad note. Overall, though, Accused Offering mini-mysteries that are engaging, well-cast and with twists viewers (mostly), will not see coming. This qualifies for a glimmering of light in the Dark Ages broadcast TV. B —Kristen Baldwin

When you’re done saving the world

(In theaters right now)

Sundance Institute ‘When you finish saving the world’

There is a special kind of minor-key that is uniquely yours. Sundance-y genre of movie that might be called Small Epiphanies: modestly scaled indies in which fretful protagonists — melancholy, neurotic, generally upper-middle-class — must learn to grow and change, but not, you know, You can also much.

When you’re done saving the world This year’s festival premiere of the play “The Festival” takes inspiration from the long line. The show is a shaggy, discomfort-dramedy about the semi-estrangement that Evelyn, a suburban Indiana Social Worker, experiences with Evelyn.Julianne Moore) and her teenage son, an aspiring social-media star named Ziggy (Stranger Things‘ Finn Wolfhard). It is also the debut directorial role of actor Jesse EisenbergHe has been in many films similar to this one (see: The Squid, and the Whale, Adventureland, Self Defense: How to Master It), and his experience shows in its talky, familiar contours.

Both mother and son are trapped at home and find relief in others. Evelyn has a new client at her domestic-violence shelter, Kyle (Billy Bryk), who looks like Ziggy (sensitive, kind, and not concerned about TikTok view count). Ziggy has a beautiful, confident classmate (Ziggy).13 Reasons You Should Care‘s Alisha Boe) whose penchant for beat poetry and progressive politics put his own navel-gazing naiveté in sharp relief. It doesn’t matter that his parents raised him with justice marches, protest songs, and that ship sailed as soon as he was puberty.

Eisenberg adapts the script from his 2020 audio play. He treats his cast with measured acidity. As is the case with all Small Epiphanies scripts, Eisenberg has a larger plan for his cast: redemption delivered incrementally in single-serve dosages, even though the world outside remains unchanged. Grade: B
—Leah Greenblatt

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