Movie · 1982 · Drama, Mystery, Thriller · 2h 3m · PG · English
Curator score: 7.0/10 (47.7K ratings)
Ed Horman thought that being an American would guarantee his safety. His family believed that being Americans would guarantee them the truth. They were all wrong.
Overview
Based on the real-life experiences of Ed Horman. A conservative American businessman travels to Chile to investigate the sudden disappearance of his son after a military takeover. Accompanied by his son's wife he uncovers a trail of cover-ups that implicate the US State department which supports the dictatorship.
Ratings
Curator score: 7.0/10
IMDb: 7.7/10
Letterboxd: 3.94/5
Rotten Tomatoes: 19%
Metacritic: 78
TMDB: 7.2/10
Director
Costa-Gavras
Production
Universal Pictures, Polygram Pictures, Edward Lewis Productions
Cast
Jack Lemmon, Sissy Spacek, Melanie Mayron, John Shea, Charles Cioffi, David Clennon, Richard Venture, Jerry Hardin, Richard Bradford, Joe Regalbuto, Keith Szarabajka, John Doolittle, Janice Rule, Ward Costello, Hansford Rowe, Tina Romero, Richard Whiting, Martin LaSalle, Terence Nelson, Robert Hitt
Curator Review
Verdict
A gripping political thriller with real moral force, anchored by strong performances from Jack Lemmon and Sissy Spacek. It’s especially effective as an indictment of state violence, U.S. complicity, and the human cost of bureaucratic denial.
Best for
viewers interested in political thrillers based on true events
fans of tense investigative dramas
people drawn to 1970s/80s issue-driven cinema
audiences who like performances that carry the emotional weight of the story
Skip if
you want a fast, twist-heavy thriller over procedural realism
you prefer subtle, purely character-driven drama without overt politics
you are looking for escapist entertainment or a light watch
Overview
Missing is one of those films where the urgency of the subject becomes the engine of the drama. Costa-Gavras turns a disappearance into a slow-burn nightmare, using the search for one man to expose a much larger machinery of repression, denial, and international complicity. The film’s power comes from how ordinary and unprepared its central figures are for the scale of what they uncover.
Worth noting
Jack Lemmon gives the story its emotional spine, playing a man whose politics and assumptions are stripped away scene by scene. Sissy Spacek brings clarity, anger, and grief without ever overplaying the role. Their dynamic gives the film a human center that keeps it from becoming a purely procedural account of atrocities.
Bottom line
It can feel talky and deliberately explanatory, but that directness is part of its purpose. This is a film built to make the audience understand how power hides itself, and why that matters. For viewers open to politically charged cinema with a strong factual basis, it remains sharp, unsettling, and very much alive.
Top Letterboxd reviews
cait (3★) · 638 likes
obsessed with the fact that the us state department released a three page statement denouncing this film. that’s worth more than any silly little award
fran hoepfner (4.5★) · 316 likes
The most conventional aspect of Missing is that Ed and Beth are on opposite sides of the political spectrum, and a number of their scenes together are him trying to reckon with her “kooky leftist views” that spit in the face of his conservative Christian Science. That Missing is helmed by one star from Old Hollywood (Lemmon) and one star from New Hollywood (Spacek) lends it an interesting air of legitimacy, so to speak. It’s not only that the horrible… more The most conventional aspect of Missing is that Ed and Beth are on opposite sides of the political spectrum, and a number of their scenes together are him trying to reckon with her “kooky leftist views” that spit in the face of his conservative Christian Science. That Missing is helmed by one star from Old Hollywood (Lemmon) and one star from New Hollywood (Spacek) lends it an interesting air of legitimacy, so to speak. It’s not only that the horrible… more
Sean Fennessey (4★) · 203 likes
I wonder if Alex Garland watched this recently.
Tim Fehrenbach (4.5★) · 164 likes
“they are killing people here, and nobody knows who’s next.”
Really intense on multiple levels. At first we’re thrown into the dread of not knowing what’s happening or who to trust, the world has already collapsed into chaos. The film makes you feel the shock of sudden powerlessness, as scattered attacks erupt from a repressive, murderous regime. But the terror goes deeper than soldiers in the streets – it’s the realization that the rule of law has been replaced by… more
shookone (2.5★) · 139 likes
50 years since Allende's death & the military coup in Chile memorial programme
the filmic equivalent of talking an important discourse to death. the dialogues are suffocating everything that cinema is made of. I kept full attention - which is a tough thing to do when the screenplay doesn't allow anything else than their words taking over - but could detect only glimpses of cinematic moments here. remembering Z this seems to be a general trait of Costa-Gavras style.
a central… more
1983 · Drama, War · 2h 8m · R · Curator 5.3/10 (14.4K ratings) · Where to watch: Amazon Prime Video, fuboTV, MGM Plus, Philo, Amazon Prime Video with Ads
A strong fit for its mix of journalism, revolution, and the pressure of reporting amid state violence.
1989 · Drama, Thriller · 1h 47m · R · Curator 5.6/10 (11.4K ratings) · Where to watch: Amazon Prime Video, fuboTV, MGM Plus, Philo, Amazon Prime Video with Ads
A moral awakening story about an ordinary man confronting the brutality of an oppressive regime.
1985 · Drama, History · 1h 52m · NR · Curator 8.5/10 (40.9K ratings)
A powerful Latin American drama about uncovering state crimes and the personal cost of truth.
Topics
political thriller, based on true events, Cold War, authoritarian regime, investigative drama, state conspiracy, family tragedy, 1970s politics, journalistic urgency, historical drama