Nowhere is difficult to discuss without skimming spoilers, especially since the film deserves to stay a secret for new audiences.  What I can safely share is that this thriller is comparable to last year’s winner Searching.  But, while both movies are about a parent trying to find their missing child, each movie has its own efficient approach.

Searching used its structure to spin an intriguing mystery while making a statement about feigned online empathy during tragedies.  Nowhere, while also a contemporary mystery, isn’t trying to make a statement.  It’s a movie that interprets its available narrative resources as storytelling factors instead of devices.  Rather than making a deep movie, director/co-writer/co-producer Thomas Michael and co-writer/co-producer Paolo Mancini aim to make a straightforward, twisty thriller that will have the movie goer on the edge of their seat, and they succeed in doing so.

Nowhere is a rollercoaster though, weaving in-and-out of different genres and riding a thin line between unpredictability and inconsistency.  If you can keep up, Nowhere will wrap you up in suspense.

Nowhere screens at Toronto’s Canadian Film Festival on Friday, March 22 at 9:30 pm at Scotiabank Theatre.

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