In 2023, a thriller came out that took the screenlife genre to a whole new level. Missing tells the twisty story of a teenager tracking down her mother using all the powers of the internet. Every frame of the movie is packed with app interfaces and potential clues — some of which tie into the creative team's earlier films, Searching and Run. Each standalone story is loaded with Easter eggs that reveal a shared universe.

Co-writer and producer Sev Ohanian obviously loves mysteries, but he also can't help spoiling them. Missing, Searching, and Run each contain glimpses of the solutions to their own enigmas, as well as proof of how their stories interlock. Eagle-eyed fans can assemble Ohanian's tantalizing puzzle, and perhaps uncover hints of what the future holds for this clever creator and his team.

Searching Forms the Foundation of a Shared Universe

In 2018, Sev Ohanian and Aneesh Chaganty dropped...