May 5, 2011

Megan Is Missing (2011)

Directed and Written by Michael Goi. Starring Amber Perkins ("Amy") and Rachel Quinn ("Megan"). Unrated. Body Count: 1. Boob Count: 0.

Source: Region 1 DVD (Anchor Bay Entertainment)
Run time: 01:25:27
Country: USA

Look closely

To Michael Goi and to Anchor Bay Films, please consider the following quote for a blurb on any future releases and prints of this film:

"Megan is Missing is the cinematic equivalent of waking up to your uncle molesting you."

Thank you.


MEGAN IS MISSING is of the "found footage" genre, and it's based on multiple cases of actual child abduction. The film features a claim that everything you will witness during its 85-minute running time is based on actual news footage, home videos, computer files, webcam chats, and cell phone transmissions, but what they don't tell you is that it's all obviously altered to translate into a film. In other words, a re-enactment; I assume the girls who the characters in the film are based on didn't spend their waking hours videotaping every conversation they had. A title card at the beginning of the movie may lead people to believe the filmmakers are are playing the entire movie off as being legit footage of the girls when it's obviously not the case.

When the movie begins, we're immediately introduced to both Megan, 14, and Amy, 13, who, according to title cards, were abducted in 2007. They're an odd couple, to say the least. Megan is very promiscuous for her age and confesses to being sexually abused as a child and giving her first blowjob at the age of ten to an older man who looked like the "creepy killer guy from SE7EN." Amy is the polar opposite: shy, virginal, socially awkward, gets along with her parents. Somehow they find enough common ground to be best friends. The relationship between the two (in the film) seems genuine and not based around ulterior motives of any sort. As the film progresses, Megan makes contact with someone in a chat room named "Josh". Megan tells Amy about a proposed meet-up between she and the mysterious Josh, and it's the last time Amy speaks to her best friend.


One of the things that surprised me about the film was how gradually it built up to something I wasn't expecting AT ALL. It starts out with subtlety. Lots of BFF-ing, annoying dialogue, stereotypical (and probably far-fetched) teenage behavior, and "girl talk", for lack of a better term. And then comes certain revelations in regards to Megan, which I mentioned earlier, that adds a new dimension to both the film and her as a character. And then the abduction... and the weird news footage, which bordered on comedic. Following the abduction and the news footage, however, the film takes a turn equal to getting a bucket of ice cold water dumped on you when you're least expecting it, and even at that point it's still rainbows and puppy dogs compared to the last twenty minutes of the film, which goes to some incredibly dark places... literally and figuratively.

Not since A SERBIAN FILM has a movie knocked me on my ass as much as this one. Initially, anyway. Whereas SERBIAN used its characters and plot and moments of shock value to lure you in for the inevitable knockout punch, MEGAN IS MISSING uses circumstances surrounding actual events involving children that took place over a number of years and affected different families. Because it's rooted in reality, it hits closer to home in general more than director Srdjan Spasojevic could have ever dreamed of with A SERBIAN FILM, and the great thing about MEGAN is that it doesn't rely on graphic visuals and shock value so much as it does driving a certain point home and making you realize what kind of people are preying on children. Rarely do films haunt me long after I've seen them; I have a feeling this will be one of the few exceptions.

Score: 8

88 comments:

  1. Wasn't expecting such a good rating from the way your review started out. I will have to check this one out.

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  2. I've never even heard of this, but it sounds fascinating, and you definitely got me all curious about what happens in the film. I enjoy (though that might not be the right word) based on true stories stuff like this, mostly because that's the kind of story that does hit harder as there is a level of truth behind it.

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  3. Heather: I'm full of surprises.

    Matt: It's been, what, a few days since I watched it, and I'm still very bothered by it. Although, since then I've seen it an additional two times (with the commentary tracks) because of how fascinated I am by it. It's like a car accident that you can't look away from.

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  4. i liked it i'm just wondering if it was based on real events

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  5. I think I saw this in the video store the day before yesterday, Aaron. I'll look again and check it out if it's there. Nice write up, my friend! It's got me interested now.

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  6. shauna: According to the director it is. The two girls are based on two 12 year-olds who were kidnapped and killed by a 45 year-old man. The rest of the movie is supposedly based on incidents surrounding six other cases.

    V5: Thank you.

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  7. Poorly shot, average script. Disappointing to say the least. Id say it will do well in America.

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  8. I downloaded this off of iTunes and just finished watching it. I definitely have to say I agree with you on everything you said.

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  9. This was definitely one of the most disturbing movie I have seen in years and I'm pissed off at the people who made this film because of the last 22 minutes of the film. i can't get it out of my head and all I can think of is my two daughters. I wish I never saw it.

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  10. I just saw this movie, and will tell you it is quite shocking and you will never forget it! The most horrific part is, it IS HAPPENING every day somewhere ! This will stay with you forever..every time you see a teen age girl laughing with friends..a small child in a play ground...your stomach will turn. It IS a must see !

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  11. OMG!!! yes your so right!! i saw this movie twice and it is very very haunting, my daughters and i couldnt sleep after watching this neither could my best friend. did this actually happen? i hope not. my god this movie was the most shocking i have ever seen. it really hits close to home for everyboby!!!

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  12. I am a mother of 3. I have two daughters 7 & 12 and 1 son. I was so taken back by this movie that I literally stared @ the tv sreen with my hands over my mouth crying. I am SO careful about person to person "stranger danger" if you will, that this was beyond my comprehension. I never let my daughter just go surf the web without a school project, ect. @ hand and I get emails on comments that are posted to her Facebook. I just never thought about bringing up never meeting people face to face. Kids make impulsive decisions and if you don't reinforce these rules they are more likely to make these mistakes. But the thing is I never took it that far. I just don't allow her to post pictures of herself in bathing suits, ect. This movie has opened my eyes and yes it will stay with me. I will be warning my grandchildren!

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  13. I can't believe some f you actually watched my movie more than once (and Heather listened to the commentary tracks!)! I gotta say, you people have guts.

    I knew when I made the movie that it would freak people out a little. But for the two years I researched the cases before writing the script, I felt like I was removed from the real world and plunged onto a hostile, alien planet where nothing made sense anymore and the rules of decency and human compassion were thrown out the window. My movie reflects the world that we glimpse for twenty seconds on TV and do not want to learn more about because it would actually make us think about our own mortality, and how quickly our lives could be changed by someone with evil intentions.

    I know that many people have said they will not be able to look at the world the same way after seeing Megan Is Missing. In a way, that may be a good thing. It takes a lot to get people riled up enough to actually take some action these days, and if my movie rattles people enough to protest the early prison release of a repeat sexual offender, or to go online to familywatchdog.us and check out how many convicted sexual offenders live in their neighborhood, then some good will have come from going through the trauma of watching the movie.

    The world is what we make it, and I intend to make the world a better place for my children to live in.

    Michael Goi

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    1. I watched your movie three months ago and still think about it. I still have flashbacks of the photos of Megan and the footage of Amy after the abduction. During the movie when the photos were shown, I had to pause the movie and look very closely at what "Josh" had done to her. I kept asking myself how they could end up like that. I was sick to my stomach at the end when you gave a quick view inside the barrel, which I paused on again. The rape of Amy was horrifying, I think mostly because she was like a 5 year old mentally. She was very immature for a a teenager, very innocent, and when she stopped screaming, I felt chills all over my body and had to check the locks on my doors. You would think the screaming would freak people out more but, that chilling stare into the camera cuts right through you, deep into your soul. I keep thinking about your ending too. How could he put Amy into a barrel with her dead best friend and bury her? What kind of sick person does that? I ask myself over and over, why couldn't he just kill her before putting her in there? That would have been so much less cruel, there is the answer. Because of this film, I worry constantly about all the young ladies in my family, and to be honest, the older ones too. That's actually why I am on this site right now. I was up late as usual, I started looking on google.com for anything about the true case. I didn't realize it was a combination of multiple cases. I was really interested in the truth behind the abductions of the two teenage best friends. I think I wanted to know it wasn't as horrible as the movie made it out to be.

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    2. I can't thank you enough for making this movie!! Children nowadays think they are invisible and nothing will happen to them. This is eye opening and I've put it on Facebook that it is a must see film for parents and their young ladies!! Absolutely disturbing but in a good way

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  14. Very disturbing movie but it does happen everyday. Just wondering if the 2 girl's bodies were ever found or the killer caught?

    Thanks, Carla (KY)

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  15. Saw this and even though I knew what happened near the end, the revelation of Megan, I still jumped. Very disturbing and the girl who played Amy did a great job with the acting when it came to "that" scene. Her expression is all to familiar to me.

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  16. Thanks so much for the comments and feedback, everyone, and especially to Michael Goi for taking the time to read my review. Much appreciated.

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  17. please tell me the last 22 minutes was not real footage? and the 2 pictures of megan?? i was so disturbed and in tears when i saw them.

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    1. I felt the same way. Read my comment I left above.

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  18. kblack: Everything was staged, including the photos. It's a movie, not a snuff film. Everything, however, is based on fact. So, while what you're watching is staged, there's still a chance that it really happened to someone out there.

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  19. This movie will be with me for the rest of my life. No other movie I have ever seen has affected me the way this movie did.

    I am a horror genre fan and I LOVE horror movies. I know this is not billed as a horror movie, but it was the most horrifying movie I have ever seen and it has changed the world I live in.

    Thank You for making a most excellent movie, it is the only movie in my life so far that I loved but will never watch again.

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  20. Your review was perfect. I was trying to decide whether I could actually recommend this film to my horror-movie-loving friends, because this is, in fact, so much more horrible than most other films I've seen. I ultimately decided, like you, that it's definitely worth watching, but it bothered me on a level that other horror films can't even get close to. Great, great review.

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  21. Thanks for stopping by and checking out my review, Barbara, and thanks for the kind words.

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  22. This movie completely kicked my ass. And I've seen some wrong shit on the screen before.

    It has changed the way I look at teenaged girls, that's for sure.

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  23. I just gotta say that this movie scared the CRAP outta me. The last 22 minutes were like watching the Twin Towers fall. You were horrified every time they re-aired the footage, but you just couldn't look away cuz you couldn't believe what you were seeing. Seriously, I thought the remake of The Last House On The Left was the most disturbing horror movie I would see for a very long time, but THIS one just made it look timid in comparison to the sheer horror you feel knowing that this kind of thing happens regularly in this world. Bone-CHILLING to say the least.

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  24. I find it hard to believe that parents who suffer this horror in real life would accept
    F grade Film makers being allowed to try and make a dollar from this,it is only
    insensetive and selfish.
    Why are film-makers privy to this life-ending misery for all involved.
    Yeah ok, there is evil in the world and we have to remind people to be wary and careful but this crap of a movie is only intended to fill bank accounts and wallets for greedy and selfish non-artists and enterprises.

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    1. I read what the writer wrote about the film. I wanted to find out the true story, hoping it wasn't as horrifying as the film portrayed. The film was made from real accounts but, from many different stories all compiled into one. This was not a real story about two teenage girls being tortured and killed. I want to ask you something, did you ever watch any movies on lifetime? They are all based on true stories and they are almost always about a girl being raped, killed, kidnapped, etc. What about the film based on that mother that went to Aruba to find her daughter's killer? The movies made about real life tragedies help people by informing them. If you are about my age you might remember what we had to watch as teenagers, they were called after school specials. Those were no different.

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  25. There's a lot of people I know that thought Strangeland was disturbing when it came out oh so long ago, and I left that theater thinking "that was the greatest movie ever!" Although not really alike it has the same premise, don't meet people online. Meagan is Missing takes it to a whole other level! I laid awake last night for like 3 hours with the pictures of Megan and my imagined reality of what those last twenty minutes must have been like for Amy running through my head. This one won't go away for awhile.

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  26. Movie was tight! much love to Michael goi. Fuck the dudes hatin and tryin to say u made this film just for money, they don't know shit. Movie was totally fictional based on true abductions. I read a review where michael said that the ending 22 min scene was based off a 9 year old before her death. Whoever thinks this is the worst thing you've seen before....watch real snuff if you're that interested. I cant help myself but to look at it when its all over the web.

    To be honest i actually thought the film was a paranormal activity kind of movie because of the cover. But once it started i realized what was goin on. Its a must for any teen/rape/torture/predator fan!! Again so much props to Michael goi and the cast for all the time and effort spent on the film. True amazement! Also dean waite!! For his role (josh) and epic quote, "my names not josh..bitch". Would love to meet and greet everyone that had dealt with the making of this film.

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  27. JCD said:

    This movie bothered the heck out of me. I recomended it to all my friends. I don't know any of them who has watched it. And that disappoints me............I am a retired Police Officer. I was also a Deputy Sheriff. As a Deputy I got to spend time in Detention Facilities. I had the thrill of being around pedophiles, rapists and murderers, during my entire work day. I watched them. They watched me. ......As a cop, I looked for missing kids. I arrested suspected pedophiles. I served warrents on convicted molestors. These people make my skin crawl. ..............This movie hit me like a 75 mph softball in my gut. Especially the end. People like that have absolutely NO PLACE in our society. Get my drift?

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  28. A surprisingly pertinent movie. Contrary to my expectations (this kind of concept is définitely not my cup of tea), I loved this film, very much !... It always amuses me to notice the actual recycling of "avant-gardes" techniques as old as Andy Warhol, which suddenly seem modern, because they affect a " mainstream " public, who decried them for a long time... Times change, with a delicious slowness... This consideration set apart, I find the movie full of acuteness and address in its use of the process, and very mastered. We never sink into exploitation - of what I was afraid, especially for the last 22 minutes... On the contrary, Michael Goi maintains his purpose up to the end, making the non-showing the material for a spectacular horror... It is audacious, terribly relevant, and totally against the "mode", in spite of appearances... Chapeau, Mister Goi !... I'm pretty sure that you have directed a future classic... (Sorry for my bad english... I'm French...)
    By the way : I'm discovering this blog via a search on "Megan is Missing" on Google... It's a great site !...

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  29. Thank you, bbjane! Stop by anytime. And if you didn't mention it, I wouldn't have known you were French. Your English is better than mine! Very interesting comment/review of the film.

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  30. This is a must see movie!! very disturbing but every teenage kid should watch this movie!!!!!!!!! Alot of sick people out there.

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  31. I think this is not a horror film...this is a true story of the horrors that befall children in society today. I think this should have been done as a documentary..but than the director couldn't make money from the sales...sorry, but this movie is sick..the last part of the film is chilling to say the least..Watch this film and ask yourself if you really think this is horror film. The horror is what happens.. As for making comments about how teenage girls are today..They are a product of our environment...which is disturbing...

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  32. Some of the acting was pretty bad, but some was still believable. What's really scary about this is that teenagers are participating in this high risk behavior pretty regularly, not realizing that it may catch up with them and cost them their lives. When parents say "Be careful! Call if you're going to be late. I need to know where you are at all times." and other "mom" language that kids roll their eyes at, this is actually what they are warning their kids about. And the fact that it does happen is VERY DISTURBING!!

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  33. People saying that they need to check this movie out ... make sure you have a strong stomach. It is an eye opening movie, but it is ... in its own category for disturbing.

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  34. I just finished watching this movie and honestly... I don't even have the words to describe how I feel right now. Usually, I love movies that get in your head like this one, (i.e Irreversible)... but this was just too much.

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  35. This is a really disturbing film, I havent gone one night without thinking about it since I watched it.

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  36. my girl played this film on netflix n quickly i found myself drawn by the film...i feel nauseous this film seriously messed up my stomach...i can't really remember a film that has had such impact on me...i'm sicken by the footage especially towards the end...have to say i'm traumatized...highly disturbing. be ware..not recommend this film be watched..however realizing the harsh realities about predators who do this kind of stuff, guess film should b watched...i guess the lesser of the 2 evils is to be traumatize after watching it than have to endure being preyed on...as a current cop n member of the military im shocked that the killer wasn't found...with the technology available we should at least know who the killer is...country is already in debt by the trillions, maybe a few more trillions should be spent on catching people like these n eradicating them...this is a great country with lots of freedoms but i wished it were harsher on criminals...the criminal justice system is a revolving door policy...guess we need wolves to catch wolves quoting denzel in training day...my heart is broken for the victims as well as relatives n friends who survive n grief...thomas jefferson said that grief was the one concept he could never truly understand...lastly all i wanna say is that this movie got me thinking if there really could be a god that allows such evil to prevail...george carlin rip used to say, "i believe in the sun, first of all cuz i can c it, ja ja."

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  37. This isn't a preaching sight, but God has nothing to do with our actions.
    Thanks for the heads up, its horrible and shocking, the reality is hard to comprehend...

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  38. I think Mr. Goi is trying to create relevance for his film by saying it's based on true events. The DVD cover even has a blurb trying to assert this "A powerful and important film worthy film that deserves both attention and discussion."

    I'm not sure it's worthy of discussion anywhere outside of a film school, and for the reasons that it's a failure.

    Well, as a satire it works, but Is It Satire?

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  39. Thanks for your comment, Chris. I checked out your write-up and found it to be really interesting. As far as what Michael Goi's intentions were, I have no idea; all I know is that this film disturbed me greatly.

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  40. This movie was compelling! It reminded me of the millions of times I went searching for a guy at the mall after meeting in an AOL chat room. This movie is a real eyeopener and I feel blessed that this didn't happen to me when I was younger. When I do decide to have children I will make sure to pay close attention to his or her behaviors. Thanks!!!

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  41. I haven't watched this film, my 17 daughter watched it and it scared the hell out of her so much she warned me not to watch it. For years I have lectured my kids about the dangers of internet and how you must always be careful of who you befriend on the net. Like many other kids my daughter always rolled her eyes and said yeah...yeah...I know what I'm doing. Last night she watched Megan is missing and she now has a more realistic view of the message we have always tried to teach her. Sadly in this day and age I have found this is usually the only way to get a message across to the kids. If this movie makes kids more cautious about their friendships and more aware of what could happen then it can achieve alot.

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  42. Holy crap! I just watched the film based on one of Netflix's recommendations. I was NOT expecting what I saw. I didn't really read anything about the film before hand so I really didn't know what I was expecting... but I was not expecting what I saw. My reactions were pretty typical and mundane until... that title card that said the remaining 22min were actual footage. From then on I was increasingly attentive and disturbed.

    That is really throwing me for a loop is that I want to know what happened. Obviously this film is based on a true story but not completely true in and of itself. So I want to know more. THAT is what's disturbing me more than anything right now. I want to know if they caught the guy, If they found the girls. If the families ever got justice. I found your write up after the fact. Thank you.

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  43. I agree with rosietx1..I want to know what happened after the fact..was the killer ever caught..he seemed to know how to hide a body extremely well..this is not his first, second, or for that matter third kill..this is a serial killer..Reminds me of that movie with Nicholas Cage 8M..the dark side..a sex slave..the need for violence or to dominate to enjoy life a little more..I bet he checks this site to see what comments are made regarding his act..I would like to know also if justice prevailed..I think not!!

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  44. I just saw this movie. Part of me wishes I never had. My daughter is 13 and we were very reluctant to allow her to be on Face Book. We knew that if we kept her from it that she would get on at a friends house as most 13 year olds would do, and decided to let her have an account. We are always reminding her of the dangers surrounding the internet, but hearing it from Mom and Dad doesn't always sink in to kids. So we established protocols that allow me to monitor her activities on line to include her Face Book and e-mail accounts. I am honest with her so that she knows I do it if for her protection. Honesty allows us to build trust. I am wondering if I shouldn't have her watch this movie with me one day to see if it hits home to her where she will believe what we are telling her is true. Knowing this movie was not true in itself, but yet was based on actual events, could work like the scared straight series. We want her to understand that we support and love her. We don't want her to not live under a rock when it comes to social media but to be safe while in this world! Look what happened to those folks who responded to Craig's List ads, very similar.

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  45. As a mother of 4 girls, I can honestly say no other movie has ever hurt me to my core like this one. I totally cannot get those images of megan and amy being raped out of my mind. Its so sad that things like this happen every single day. These predators watch our kids for days and watch their schedule and follow them around chat rooms. Its so scary!! My oldest girls are 9 and the only site they use online is club penguin. This is only because our computer is in the living room right next to the couch where I sit. When they ask me to use another site I verify it and watch them. Kids have to understand that not everyone out there is out to love them and be nice to them. I cannot stress that enough to my girls. I tell them even relatives and close friends can be bad. When they get older, as much as I dont want to I will have them watch this movie. I think all parents and teenagers alike should watch it. It is an eye opener and a massive reality check. It hurts my heart to know that on a daily basis this goes on. Go onto Dreamindemon.com and read those stories. Watch the movie "Trust" all parents need to know about all these "resources" Thank you for this review and thank you to all who watched it at least I know I am not alone on my feelings! (fyi Im glad I found you while googling "Megan is missing) Thank you very much!

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  46. after watching this film , i just happened to catch the show "Disappeared" on I.D. channel and to say the least "megan" kept flooding back into my mind while watching cases of true abduction. This film has really taken up permanent residence in my memory . One of the best found footage films in my opinion the only other one i have seen on the same level of disturbing is "The Poughkeepsie Tapes ".

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  47. great review. you can't really "love" a film like this, but you can appreciate its power and competence at achieving its goal. it did make me feel like a piece of shit... being that i'm interested in torture films and fetish imagery... but rather than being cathartic or escapist, this film was empathetic and alarmist, and in a very honest non-exploitative fashion.

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  48. I was just catching up with the posts about my movie on this site. I thank you all for watching the film (even those of you who didn't like it!) and, though I never intended it to be seen by children, I understand the desire for it to be a learning tool. My purpose in making the movie was to raise awareness, not make young people too scared to use the internet. The internet is the single most important communications tool of the late twentieth century, but parents generally have a very vague idea of how kids socially interact using these tools. I personally believe that every kid should be given a cell phone because they are all GPS enabled and its easy to access call records. To protect our kids today (I have two) we have to be smarter than the predators. And for those who suggest that I made the movie to make money, let me say that there hasn't been any profit from the film because of all the illegal downloading, and I've donated more money to child protection organizations than I would ever hope to make from this film. My purpose in making the movie was to get people to not forget the subject the next time they see a two minute report on TV. We CAN make the world safer. We just have to be proactive about it.

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  49. i have come to a point in my life where i am not scared of anybody at all in fact i am thoroughly fed up with the way people behave there is no excuse for their selfishness and constant disrespect and carelessness of others i am all for the death penalty in fact i really hope the law finds more inventive ways to make criminals suffer more brutally

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  50. I have a hard time reconciling Goi's statements about the film's intention to protect children with the lack of credit he gives his teenage characters.

    There's something particularly hilarious about imagining parents, otherwise in-touch with their children and their ability to make decisions, watching Megan is Missing and discovering the shocking truth--their kids, coordinating via inscrutable technology, are using their allowance to do drugs in an abandoned building. The sad thing is, otherwise-informed parents, it's too late to act to protect them. Your child was already molested at camp as a 10 year old and didn't tell anyone! Kids are so dumb (these days) they won't even tell someone as they are continually harassed by the person who abducted their friend. And in turn she too will be helplessly abducted...so...lock them in their room or something. The More You Know™.

    Now, that sounds ridiculous but it's also a pretty reasonable summary of the plot in relation to Goi's stated goal. I'm not exaggerating that the characters are really this inexplicable, though apparently all you need to do is put "based on true events" on the box and well-meaning parents will believe anything about their children. This film is not about kids, though they're the only characters. It's about parents and how they view their children, a particularly insulting view.

    I would argue that we don't make the "world safer" by treating teenagers like they're senseless and helpless, though I'm aware that senseless parents enjoy taking such a view to the extreme as evidence they're good ones. It's a spectacularly narcissistic fiction, but goes something like “I always assume the worst will happen to my kids, that means I'm the most protective!” or various reformulations which involve extreme skepticism at any suggestion that you can trust kids not to spend their allowance doing drugs in abandoned buildings or say something when they've been sexually abused. Is this approach the best way to protect your kids?

    You wouldn't protect them from cuts and burns in the kitchen by telling them graphic stories about the kitchen. You wouldn't better protect them by watching shows, like the news program (complete with dramatic reenactment) satirized in the film, that obsess about kitchen victimization. I would venture if you indulged your fear of the kitchen harming your children by watching movies which treat children like fodder (read: objects, not persons) for kitchen monsters, you might be a terrible parent who didn't prepare your kids for adulthood. But strangely, if you were to do all the above with “predators” instead you would feel sensible and good.

    Continued in the next comment...

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  51. Goi is inclined to say things like "we have to be smarter than the predators," which treats "predators" like some threat as real as a kitchen. It's easy to stand this ridiculous othering (a process by which one entity defines itself in terms that distinguish itself from another another entity) on its head by substituting some other boogeyman. “We have to be smarter than the...communists.”
    “We have to be smarter than the...Jews.”
    “We have to be smarter than the...Liberals.”
    “We have to be smarter than the...Muslims.”
    “We have to be smarter than the...Republicans.”
    “We have to be smarter than the...terrorists.”
    Now, these are mostly lame groups I picked which don't threaten anyone much these days, but I invite you to substitute your own personal boogeyman at the end of the sentence. Preferably someone who doesn't have access to the internet or Megan is Missing, so that you are able to outsmart them.

    What all these groups have in common is that they are adult boogeymen. They are groups where an outsize fear has been projected that far exceeds the groups' actual abilities. Now, we understand how stupid it would be for a parent to sit down take seriously a child's fear about the boogeyman under his or her bed, because the boogeyman is not a real threat. Doing so would be unrealistic, and straying from reality hurts the cause of protecting children. I argue that insofar as “predators” is an all-encompassing category which stands in anywhere a threat might exist but denotes no real details, it's useless. Useless to say to one another, and useless to think about as we try to protect kids.

    If you really want to protect kids, you can begin by portraying predators as your uncles, fathers, brothers, boyfriends, fraternity members, clergymen, teachers, doctors, scientists, women, and so on, not by showing them literally hiding in the bushes (this sounds like hyperbole but happens in the movie). Predators are humans, after all, and the majority offend the law with children in their own families. That's a piece of information your kid might benefit from knowing. After that, all you can really do is create an environment where they can come talk to you about the threats in their lives, which is certain not to to happen if you try to terrorize them into safety by showing them Megan is Missing is how poorly you think of them. If I were a teen and my parents saw the world as a place eager to violate me I'd be careful what I said to them, for fear they would stop me from hanging out with my slutty and seemingly-slutty friends.

    Megan is Missing is an 85 minute dehumanizing trip through the perverted psyche of a well-meaning parent. It is the opposite of a public service announcement, and pretending so is a mendacious indulging in the predator fantasy. The predator fantasy doesn't help kids, it only helps parents cope with fear of children growing up....more

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  52. Watching it now... you can tell its fake, but so far its pretty good.

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  53. after viewing this movie , i just occurred to get the present "Disappeared" on I.D. route and to say the least "megan" kept racing again into my thoughts while viewing situations of real abduction. This movie has really taken up lasting property in my storage . One of the best discovered video movies in my view the only other one i have seen on the same stage of unsettling is "The Poughkeepsie Video clip ".

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    1. Is it just me, or is an apparent plug for free online dating sites just creepy here?

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  54. So this was very disturbing n I havnt slept n 3 days since I watched it... I can't seem to get the images out of my mind or the question did they catch the guy that did it? Is he locked up now or wat?

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  55. I watched this movie 2 days ago and am still horrified from the ending. I too am now looking to see if this was real and am quite relieved to find out it wasn't actual video. I know this stuff happens every day, but did the writer ever stop to think about how it would affect the parents of the children it happened to? It's hard enough to have to deal with the fact that this happened to their daughter, but to have some filmmaker exploit it just to make a buck is too much.

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    1. Since the film was based on multiple cases, I can't speak for all of the parents, but I do know that at least the father and mother of one of the victims endorsed this movie, as Chris Chambers said in the comment below. Also, actual footage of such crimes would never be released in the U.S., and if there was such a movie, I would never review it here. Thanks for the comment!

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  56. The parent of Polly Klass endorsed the movie here. I do think that Mr. Goi had the parents of victims in mind when making the film.

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  57. This movie is really disturbing to me becz I have two daughters n we are living in the time of everything internet......the last 22 mins freaked me out!! Scary but true stuff!

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  58. Does anyone know what case or cases this film was based on?

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  59. My one friend told me that the movie was based on the same thing but it was amy that was kiddnapped first and they showed megan that they killed and raped her bestfriend and they did a whole lot of things, then a few weeks later they kiddnapped megan and did the same thing they did to her bestfriend, sad thoo

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  60. This movie was sick it shall spark the brain of many real life killer's .....

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  61. Wow, it sounds so scary. I should definetly take a look on this one.

    shadycuckoo8581

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  62. I just finished it and was really surprised by how effective it was. The opening scenes made me want to gouge my eyes out, but by the end, I think it's clear that there's very little wasted time in the film. We needed to see these girls put up a front, then take it down with each other before someone else took everything from them. Reminded me a lot of Lake Mungo in being a 'found footage'-ish film that found a VERY fresh way to tell a very scary story.

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    1. Emily, thanks for leaving some feedback here! Glad (well... not "glad", but you know what I mean) that you "got it", if only for the reassurance that I'm not alone in feeling the way I do about this movie. Everyone from our circle who I turned onto this movie pretty much shat on it for whatever reason. It's been over a year and I have yet to see a movie since that has hit me as hard as this one.

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    2. I can understand someone sitting down and tuning out, because yes, the opening made ME want to stuff myself in barrel. But the way the film is put together really works in a slow, odd way. You eventually do come to care about these girls (it takes time, which I think is fine) and once the media stuff trickles in, the film gets even more ambitious. I guess this is a 'not for everyone' film, but I was positively shocked by how it ultimately worked so well.

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  63. Definitely a movie to have your children watch when they are of appropriate age. Scared straight has it's advantages sometimes our kids need a dose of reality int he form of fiction.

    That said.
    If you liked this movie to the degrees in which is what was meant.

    You might want to check out these two gems.

    The Girl Next Door (Based on a true story, quite disturbing.)
    The Woman (Not a true story but good film in the same veins as Megan and Girl.)

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    1. Unknown, I've seen both... not a huge fan of GIRL NEXT DOOR (way too frustrating, just like the book), but I absolutely love THE WOMAN. I prefer AN AMERICAN CRIME over GIRL NEXT DOOR (both based on the same story), but not by much.

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  64. I wish I never watched this I need to look at the pervert registry in my area and pick a pedophile to go smash...its the only way ill feel better

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  65. Sadistic movie that serves no function but to exploit the deaths of abducted children. Do not support movies like this.

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  66. Don't support this movie. It's just trying to exploit abducted people for money by playing on your fears.

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    1. The movie is supported by KlassKids foundation - a group founded by a father of an abducted daughter. I think it's supposed to start a conversation, not exploit people. How much money could it have made anyway?

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    2. The movie is supported by KlassKids foundation - a group founded by a father of an abducted daughter. I think it's supposed to start a conversation, not exploit people. How much money could it have made anyway?

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    3. The movie is supported by KlassKids foundation - a group started by a father who's daughter was abducted and murdered in a similar way. I think it's purpose it to start a conversation, not to exploit.

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  67. Movie was a very lge shock yo me and knowing things likr this fo happen around us. Its sick and wrong. This movir made me think alot and how ferocious i would be if any man or guy tried to do anything like they did in this movie.
    I am one thats always been close and secure to all of my sisters and this just made me twice as protective as i was before.
    And if i could i would do my best to protect anyone from this type of kidnapping and torture. I May not save them all but i can surely try.

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  68. I just finished watching the movie and was completely disturbed. I realize it was based on several actual cases but it doesn't stop the potency of the film. I don't know whether to recommend it or not because it's so haunting. I love a good horror movie and I know they are all special effects and makeup, but this one punched me in the gut. A very visceral experience.

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  69. This film left me floored. It is traumatic and horrifying regardless of whether it's based on one actual event or several. It makes you want to guard your children/grandchildren 24/7, male or female. There are real monsters that walk among us!

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  70. I wish someone would have warned be not to watch this movie. If you haven't watched it but are considering please take my advice and DO NOT!! It is the most horrific film I e ever seen. I am scarred for life from it. It should be in a police evidence file instead of for public viewing. Ugh. I'm ruined.

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  71. I have a 12 year old daughter......id like to think that she is sheltered from a lot of this content but then again that would be having my head in the clouds....I believe it is a great story to be told and the shock factor is definatly there to the party's the drugs and the way guys there age and the girls there age act went parents are away or working or what ever....but the main fact of the reality of what hides behind a simple and magically safe window of ananominty...( I don't think that's a word but I hope u get my drift ) online can easily and quickly turn to something scary and just plain evil....I can believe this really happens and it sickens me every time I think about it.....but any way....the reason for my post is I can't decide if this is really something that is appropriate for my 12 year old daughter to see....it sickens me and I'm a grown man...but when ever I try to tell my little girl to be careful online.....she just gives me this look like I'm retarded and rolls her eyes and of course just tells me what I want to hear....there are things to do so that u can parent control some things but this is a digital age and access is so easy now adays.....that I can not control it all as much as I would like....as well of the fact that my kid knows more about how to use these things more than I do....I am a single parent and I try my best but I can't be every where as much as I would like....and now a days I know alot can relate...........please if u can give me ur insight and what u guys think honestly about exposing this to ur kid......? The honest the better because I have been going back and forth with my self it's driving me crazy.....I don't want to emotionally scar my kid but I want her to know just how real and how bad things can get and that I'm not just being paranoid

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  72. I have a 12 year old daughter......id like to think that she is sheltered from a lot of this content but then again that would be having my head in the clouds....I believe it is a great story to be told and the shock factor is definatly there to the party's the drugs and the way guys there age and the girls there age act went parents are away or working or what ever....but the main fact of the reality of what hides behind a simple and magically safe window of ananominty...( I don't think that's a word but I hope u get my drift ) online can easily and quickly turn to something scary and just plain evil....I can believe this really happens and it sickens me every time I think about it.....but any way....the reason for my post is I can't decide if this is really something that is appropriate for my 12 year old daughter to see....it sickens me and I'm a grown man...but when ever I try to tell my little girl to be careful online.....she just gives me this look like I'm retarded and rolls her eyes and of course just tells me what I want to hear....there are things to do so that u can parent control some things but this is a digital age and access is so easy now adays.....that I can not control it all as much as I would like....as well of the fact that my kid knows more about how to use these things more than I do....I am a single parent and I try my best but I can't be every where as much as I would like....and now a days I know alot can relate...........please if u can give me ur insight and what u guys think honestly about exposing this to ur kid......? The honest the better because I have been going back and forth with my self it's driving me crazy.....I don't want to emotionally scar my kid but I want her to know just how real and how bad things can get and that I'm not just being paranoid

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