As I watched Carl Joseph E. Papa’s animated film The Missing, I spent most of the first half writing down questions. That could be the sign of a sloppiness, but here it is the way we get pulled into the story so that in the second half of the film the story can slowly reveal itself to us. That story becomes a touching story of emotional struggle and healing. The Missing is the Philippines’ submission for Best Foreign Feature Film consideration.
The story centers on Eric, a young man with no mouth. Why does he have no mouth? That is a question that just grows for a while. Especially when after work a coworker asks if he wants to get something to eat. How does he eat without a mouth? All these questions seem to never occur to any of the other characters in the story.
His mother asks him to check in on his uncle because she hasn’t heard from him in a few days. He and his coworker go to the uncle’s house to discover his uncle has died. When he goes outside, Eric is abducted by a UFO, but escapes. The alien continues to search for Eric. Often trying to take other body parts—ear, eye, genitals. Eric begins to have memories of his childhood (done in a more childlike animation) during which he does have a mouth. As the memories keep coming, they begin to have a darker meaning. Viewers will discern the real problem that is disturbing Eric before it is clearly revealed.
All during the second half of the film the tension builds as Eric struggles to avoid and free himself from the alien who wants him. We can tell that this struggle is not really against an extraterrestrial, but is dealing with something terrible in his past. In time he seems to have a complete break with reality as the memories take total control. With the help of a coworker who walks with him through all this, he comes to rediscover what happened so long ago. He is then able to find a way to recover all his missing body parts including his mouth—which tells us he has begun the healing process.
The film creates a complexity that reflects the many ways Eric has been injured and affected by what happened in his childhood. The film’s end does not leave Eric in a place of wholeness, but it offers hope that now we can move toward that.
