I really like the gimmick of this franchise, in terms of presentation it’s quite fun and creative. The acting’s also pretty good, but besides that I recognize very little here of what I liked so much about _Searching_. In just about every sense it feels watered down compared to the first one. The plotting of this one is so schlocky and farfetched, and it includes many mechanics that are either contrived or highly convenient. Some of the reveals are a bit comical because they’re presented like a melodramatic CW series, with schmaltzy music and all included. I don’t even think the main characters are all that well defined, Storm Reid deserves better given the amount of effort she’s putting in. You can pretty much skip this one unless you’re into the kind of movie that I just described it as.

4.5/10