The American psychological horror film Megan Is Missing is directed, written, co-produced, and edited by Michael Goi. This movie premiered in 2011 but seems relevant to this day. The sorry resurfaces after the fans explore the terrifying flick. However, it contains the most gruesome final scenes of all time.
Director Goi said he asked the forensic investigators to add as much realism as possible to the horror film, which worked well. The film is certainly not for a fragile heart. The audience might be relieved to know that as frightening as the movie seems, it is not based on a real-life story.
However, it takes its inspiration from a real-life event. It was initially developed as a low-budget independent feature film in 2006. It found its distribution when Anchor Bay Films gave it a limited theatrical release in 2011.
Digging The Plot
‘Megan Is Missing’ begins with an investigation into the disappearance of Megan Steward after she agrees to meet up with a guy online. To find her, one of her best friends, Amy Hermen, goes in search of Megan only to disappear herself.
Megan & Amy are shooting themselves with Amy’s new camera.
The director assures that the movie isn’t based on a true story, but the references that have been showcased in the movie were picked from certain real-life events. The storyline of this film is similar to one of the disappearances cases of Ashely Pond and her best friend, Miranda Diane Gaddis.
The police found both of their bodies in their best friend’s compound. They were murdered by her father, Ward Weaver II, in cold blood. Both of the girls would have been alive if the police had acted on the intel provided by Ashely before the abduction. The intel was that Ward had shown violent behavior many times before. And Ashely also reported him for rape.
When Ward heard about the report, he, in response, sent a message to Ashley’s family that he called to inform them that Ashley had accused him of molesting her and stated that he raped her. He also wants them to know that Ashley is no longer welcomed at his place and that she has ruined the relationship. It took the Police 8 months after Ashley’s abduction for them to suspect Ward and look into him.
They even got closer to Ward’s inspection after his son Francis Weaver reported that his father attempted to rape his girlfriend. Francis also told the police that he suspects Ward behind Ashley and Miranda’s abduction and their death. Francis also provided the cue for the police to find the burial spot where his father might’ve buried the girls, and it turned out to be true.
They found both their bodies buried in his compound. Goi’s purpose behind making this film was to spread awareness among the kids not to meet any strangers through online communication as, in the world of advanced technology, the virtual world has progressed not just in order of technology but in crimes too.
Michael also posted a message on TikTok that anyone who was considering watching the movie ‘Megan Is Missing’ should follow the given instructions, and He asked the viewers not to watch the movie in the middle of the night also not to watch it when alone, If someone sees the words “Photo No. 1” on the screen then they have about four seconds to shut off the film if they are already freaked out by then as they might end up seeing things they don’t want to.
Goi also apologized to the viewers who were unaware of the content they were watching and apologized to those who were posting online about how the movie freaked them out. He also made a fair warning to those who were planning to watch it.
Getting Ahead With The Story: Megan Is Missing
The film revolves around the disappearance of Megan Stewart, who is 14, a popular high school student in North Hollywood who decided to meet up with a guy named Josh, whom she met online. She agrees to go on a date with him and later goes missing.
The investigation of her disappearance was held by her best friend, Amy Herman. Megan is showcased as a girl suffering from drug addiction who also has a bad relationship with her mother. On the other hand, Amy is a childish girl who has a very functional relationship with her parents though she is bullied through high school.
To make her feel comfortable and welcomed with her other college mates, Megan invites her to a rave party. Through footage found from the party scenes, Amy clearly seems uncomfortable at the party and gets molested for refusing to have sex with a man present there.
Megan is invited to a rave party by Ben.
When she ran away to find Megan, she found her giving oral to the party’s host in exchange for drugs. Seeing this, she was shocked and left off. Later on a video chat, Megan apologizes for causing Amy the bad party experience, and on Amy’s birthday, she records a video diary on her new camera of herself and Megan.
In that diary, Megan relates Amy’s life story and reveals to her that her stepfather was in prison for raping her when she was nine years old. She explains to Amy that her antagonistic relationship with her mother is because she never forgives Megan and reports him to the authorities. Hearing this, Amy comforts Megan.
One of Megan’s party friends, Lexie, gives her social media handle to Josh, someone they both, think of as a 17-year-old boy from their nearby school. He remains anonymous on video chats claiming that his web camera was damaged.
Lexie introduces Megan to the guy Josh.
Despite many red flags and denial, Megan finds herself attracted to Josh. They agreed to meet at a party, but Josh failed to come up upfront and reveal himself. Megan later confronts him about his absence from the party, which he makes up by describing what she wore and insisting that he was shy to meet her. Amy started feeling missing out and alone.
While they are hanging out in Megan’s house, she introduces Amy to Josh, and Josh later convinces Megan to meet him at the back of a diner, this time away from the public eye. On 17th January, the report of Megan being missing came out.
The last footage of her was found on the diner’s security camera of a distinct man grabbing her by her wrist. Amy tries to investigate the disappearance of her friend by talking to Josh online. After Josh realizes that Amy is suspicious, he threatens her.
Last footage of Megan being Grabbed by a man
Meanwhile, some graphic images of Megan’s tortured mouth, nostrils, and eyes are forced open, surfacing on certain forums. While shooting the video diary that she shared with Megan, Amy is grabbed by a man on that spot as her camera is found in a garbage can.
In untitled footage, Josh opens the door into a BDSM Chamber with Amy being chained to the wall. Amy begs for her teddy bear but is forced to eat food from a dog bowl using her hands. After that, Josh brutally rapes her and tells her that he will let her go if she enters into a plastic barrel so that his whereabouts remain unknown.
Amy opens the barrel and tries to escape when she sees Megan’s decaying corpse inside. She is pushed inside and forced with Megan’s body while she begs for her life, and Josh keeps digging a large hole in the forest. He pushes the barrel inside and fills the hole up.
An Overview
The movie was written in 10 days and was shot in over a week. Since then, it has been brutally criticized for sexualizing the girls and for poor acting in using graphic violence. The movie was also banned in New Zealand. The movie was said to be objectionable.
They claimed that the movie consists of sexual violence involving young people to such an extent that if it is allowed to be released, it will be injurious to the public good. The Megan Is Missing hashtag contains a total of 110 Million views, and there are a few TikTok members who have shared their reactions after watching the movie. Most of them have urged others not to watch it at all.
Cast & Crew
Rachel Quinn plays the lead role of Megan Stewart. The best friend, Amy Herman, is played by Amber Perkins. The online stranger Josh is played by Dean Waite. Lexie is played by Jael Elizabeth Steinmeyer, Kathy is played by Kara Wang, Chelsea is played by Brittany Hingle, Angie is played by Carolina Sabate, Detective Simonelli is played by Kevin Morris, Lauren Leah Mitchell plays Callie Daniels, Gideon is played by Trigve Hagen, Curtis Wingfield plays Ben, April Stewart plays Joyce Stewart, Reyver Huante plays Bill Herman and, Louise Herman played by Tammy Klein.
