Introduction
Hello, fellow adventurers! Blaziker is back for an unexpected adventure because today, as I was having a relaxing Eurovision break, one animated movie came absolutely out of nowhere and landed onto Netflix in Singapore, and it’s the 2023 animated movie from The Philippines, Iti Mapukpukaw, or The Missing. Of course, I took the unexpected detour and spoiler alert, that was why I am reviewing this movie.
Directed by Carl Joseph E Papa, an animated specialist who already got to his stardom thanks to his 2018 film Paglisan, The Missing features a mute animator in The Philippines who one way got captured by an alien and that was where his past has returned to haunt him.
Yeah, I am keeping the plot to be as brief as I can because this is an animated movie like no other, even among other top-tier non-mainstream animated movies. Truth to be told, I don’t think I had seen an animated movie like this before, and I had a feeling so will you. In fact, just like with my review of The Boy and the Heron, I will try to be as brief as I can so that I will not spoil anything major about this movie and only show the above backdrop as this review’s only picture. I will, however, show you the trailer to give you a first impression of what this movie was about.
So, without further ado, let us take a quick adventure into this special movie, shall we?
Key Information
- Director: Carl Joseph E Papa
- Animation Studios: Cinemalaya Foundation, Project 8 Projects and Terminal Six Post
- Country of Origin: The Philippines
- Rating: M18
- Release Date: 5 August 2023 (in The Philippines)
Trailer
The Review
Story and Characters
I got to be honest, this might be the hardest review I had ever done because I had many, many things to say about the writing in The Missing. However, as this is worth seeing this almost or completely blind as much as much possible, I will not talk about the plot points in this movie.
What I will say, however, is how masterfully crafted Papa executed his wildly original concept and writing to great use, something that is very rare in countries where the animation scene is not as strong. I had only watched one animated movie from the movie’s country of The Philippines with 2020’s Hayop Ka, but watching the story unfolding in The Missing was very eye-opening. The Missing had a perilous story about an incident the mute animator experienced and its themes were very uncomfortable. However, what makes the writing worked was how ballsy this movie was in telling a very grounded story while mixing in various ideas forming in the animator’s head that explodes beautifully.
In fact, the entire movie is focused on the animator, his life and his limited family and friends, and as this movie unfolds, it can be very surrealistic and straight up bonkers. However, Papa and his crew tied every single story element together without going way overboard, resulting in a story that had everything you would want from a movie with such a daring concept. Papa took a very big risk with his story, and it paid off thanks to both the concept and more importantly, his execution of the concept.
Plus, despite its small cast of characters, Papa also spends time to develop each of those characters so well. Eric, the mute animator, might be one of the most well-rounded and developed main characters of any animated movie in 2024, and his development and personality are both charming and tragic at the same time. It also helped that the other characters complemented Eric’s storyline so perfectly while allowing the supporting cast to shine. Voice acting is not the flashiest, but it gets the job done.
I honestly cannot believe how miraculous it was to see such a very risky concept and script being done to the absolute limits of their potential, The Missing has a near-perfect script and writing, as well as such a well-realised cast of characters, and considering that my last movie from The Philippines was Hayop Ka, The Missing blew me away, but that is not the only best part of this movie…
Animation
With each and every animated movie, I am always on a lookout for different feeling animation styles to see how the director and the animators visualise their concepts and turn the ideas into some of the most visually exciting animation scenes moviegoers can ever witness, especially in the non-mainstream animated movies where so, so many non-mainstream animated movies have visually striking animation to match up with their concepts. Even knowing so, the animation in The Missing is just in a different league of its own.
The Missing is a mostly rotoscoped animated movie (with a few deliberately crude hand-drawn animation sequences to break up the animation style in between), and the film sequences apparently took a very short 4 days to complete. However, seeing the animation style, I honestly cannot believe The Missing was made on its extremely limited budget, because man, the animation is on another level!
You can tell Papa and his team were very proud of their work, because the amount of craft and dedication they put into this movie, especially one from a country with a tiny animation industry like The Philippines, was commendable. Every animation sequence paints a vivid picture of Papa’s vision and has uniquely striking visuals I had not seen in any animated movie, let alone any non-mainstream animated movie. The character and background designs do feel like paintings rather than feeling rotoscoped, the various styles of animation harmonise together, and its visual storytelling is in a league of its own.
In fact, this movie does not shy away from taking massive gambles in the animation style, making The Missing a very art-house looking animated movie that lands with the execution. I had seen visuals in some animated movies that do not work because the styles clash with each other such as with They Shot the Piano Player, but it is clear The Missing nails its visuals super well despite its wildly original premise.
All in all, the animation in The Missing is just sublime, especially one with a limited budget and from a country not known for its animation industry. It does felt like a miracle watching this because The Missing is exactly that: a miracle that is hard to find, even with the non-mainstream animation landscape.
Soundtrack, Other Elements and Level of Enjoyment
The score is fantastic, let’s get this out of the way. It may be a simple sounding score, but what it does is to help heighten the feelings in this movie, which is very well needed considering the writing and the animation are the most important parts of this movie.
As for my level of enjoyment, “enjoyment” might be a less appropriate word. In fact, this is a heart-breaking, yet mind blowing animated movie for sure. Everything about this movie was so well executed, I watched this movie in a single day, and on a workday no less! That is quite rare for me, so this movie must have been so meaningful to me.
Conclusion
If you cannot tell from this movie review, let me make this clear: go and watch this movie now!
The Missing is one of the biggest animated movie bombshells of the year so far, filled with a well-crafted story that the audience will resonate with, filled with well-realised characters and some of the most original and visually striking animation of the year so far.
Without a question, The Missing is must see animation in the highest order, and it is definitely worth seeing this in theatres, or on Netflix since that movie is available on Netflix in certain countries. Considering The Misisng is part of the Annecy International Film Festival this year in the Contrechamp, go check out this movie if you have a screening badge to access the festival screenings too!
Well, thank you so much for joining me on this exciting animation! Speaking of animated movies showcasing at film festivals, I will be covering a couple of animated movies showcasing at film festivals across the world. Until next time, see you on the next adventure!
Blaziker’s Hot Sauce Rating
