The 2011 horror film “Megan is Missing” is going viral on TikTok and people who watch the film are calling it “traumatizing” and saying that they “couldn’t even finish it.”
The film, which was written, directed, edited, and co-produced by Michael Goi, was made in a found-footage style that follows the abduction of a teenage girl, Megan. The controversial film has drawn criticism in the past for its violence and sexualization of its adolescent protagonists, and as Entertainment Weekly reported, was banned in New Zealand.
Now, people on TikTok are re-living the viewing experience and posting their reactions on the app. The hashtag #meganismissing has over 83 million views.
It’s not quite clear why “Megan is Missing” is coming back to light in 2020, but it’s most certainly not unusual for old cultural happenings from decades past to become popular on TikTok, which is mainly favored by Gen Z.
‘Megan is Missing’ is a controversial found-footage style film about internet predators and abduction
“Megan is Missing” takes place in the days leading up to the abduction of teenager Megan Stewart (Rachel Quinn), and follows her friend Amy (Amber Perkins) as she investigates Megan’s disappearance. The film is focused on the danger of anonymous online chatting — Megan disappears after chatting with a man named Josh who claims to be a 17-year-old, says that he can’t show his face because his webcam is broken, and fails to show up at a party where he and Megan were supposed to meet.
The film, set in 2007, was picked up by distributor Anchor Bay and released in 2011. While the story it tells is fictional, it was marketed as being based on true events and was endorsed by Marc Klaas, whose 12-year-old daughter was kidnapped and killed in 1993, the Guardian reported. Director Michael Goi said in an interview with Indie Film Nation that he “wanted to do a movie about this subject” and that he thought it was important to “get the word out about it.”
Per the Guardian, film scholar Alexandra Heller-Nicholas, who has written on violence and rape in horror cinema, said that “Goi’s motive was unquestionably positive — he’s a good guy who really wanted to save kids’ lives — but that didn’t stop Megan is Missing from being dismissed as torture porn: ultimately it still looks and feels like an exploitation film.”
So if you are going to watch the movie — watch with caution. It is currently available to rent on YouTube, iTunes, and Google Play.