A schlubby comic book store owner tries to investigate what happened to his young female employee in The Missing Girl. Mort (Robert Longstreet) is the somewhat disillusioned owner of a comic book store, who builds up a friendship (and crush) with aspiring graphic novelist Ellen (Alexia Rasmussen), who happens to remind Mort of a girl who went missing while he was in high school. When Ellen doesn’t show up to work one day, Mort fears the worse and begins investigating her disappearance, with his suspicions leaning towards his jerk of an old classmate Skippy (Eric Ladin).
The Missing Girl is a late in life coming-of-age story, which can be described as a quirky mix of fantasy, reality, and comic books. The film takes the form of a visual graphic novel, utilizing split screens to mimic comic frames. The film also features various dream sequences, which usually involve Mort fantasizing about Ellen, who he has developed feelings for, even though there is at least a twenty year age difference between the two. After Ellen goes missing, Mort is assisted by his police officer friend Franny (Sonja Sohn), who has major concerns about Mort’s paranoia.
To say the least, The Missing Girl is a very cute film about this loser of a comic book store owner, who progressive becomes more paranoid in his search for his missing employee. It quickly becomes apparent that the plot of the film is representative of the graphic novel Ellen is working on, complete with different title cards for the various chapters of the film. At the very least, it is quite refreshing that there is a film involving comic books that does not include a single reference to superheroes. If you like films like Ghost World, then The Missing Girl is something worth checking out.
★ ★ ★ ★ | LIKED IT
Screenings:
- Sunday, September 20, 2:30 PM – Scotiabank Theatre 4