A desktop dramatic thriller that works as a relatable and palpable cautionary tale, on paper and conceptually speaking, Aneesh Chaganty‘s debut film should be weighted down by gimmick-like constraints, but as future auds will instantly grasp from the get-go, Search is rather genius in design, and while “stationary” in design and surprisingly warm in tone. Minus the major players involved, we were on hand for the film’s second screening in Park City, with the production team on hand for a rather pumped up post screening Q&A with an animated Chaganty being joined by co-scribe and producer Sev Ohanian, producer Natalie Qasabian and the rest of the crew including the film’s editors who know a thing or two about hard drives crashing and rendering hell.
Video: Aneesh Chaganty’s Searching | 2018 Sundance Film Festival
Eric Lavalléehttps://www.ericlavallee.com
Eric Lavallée is the founder, CEO, editor-in-chief, film journalist, and critic at IONCINEMA.com, established in 2000. A regular at Sundance, Cannes, and Venice, Eric holds a BFA in film studies from the Mel Hoppenheim School of Cinema. In 2013, he served on the narrative competition jury at the SXSW Film Festival. He was an associate producer on Mark Jackson’s "This Teacher" (2018 LA Film Festival, 2018 BFI London). In 2022, he was a New Flesh Juror for Best First Feature at the Fantasia International Film Festival. His top films for 2023 include The Zone of Interest (Glazer), Inside the Yellow Cocoon Shell (Pham Thien An), Totem (Lila Avilés), La Chimera (Alice Rohrwacher), All Dirt Roads Taste of Salt (Raven Jackson). He is a Golden Globes Voter.
