Missing

There's a kernel of genuine tension buried in this premise—a missing child, infidelity, institutional corruption—but "Missing" squanders it through muddled storytelling and characters who sabotage their own credibility. The film wants to explore how moral compromises and selfish choices create cascading disasters, yet Sushant's infidelity feels more like a plot device than a lived consequence. His desperation to hide the affair could have deepened the tragedy, but instead it plays as merely convenient misdirection. The direction never settles into a rhythm; scenes meander between melodrama and thriller without earning the emotional weight either genre demands. When the twist about the neighbor's daughter lands, it should feel like a gut punch of realization, but instead it registers as a narrative reset button pressed out of desperation.

What truly disappoints is how the film treats Titli's disappearance—such a harrowing, primal fear for any parent—with a kind of emotional indifference. Aparna's panic feels genuine in fleeting moments, but she's underserved by a script that doesn't know whether it's examining moral corruption or solving a mystery. Inspector Buddhu exists as barely more than a functional character, never becoming the moral center the story desperately needs. The performances are competent but can't overcome the structural weaknesses; the actors are fighting an uphill battle against a narrative that keeps pulling the rug out without building toward anything me