Megan Is Missing

Movie Details:

Cast & Characters:

• Amber Perkins as Amy Herman
• Rachel Quinn as Megan Stewart
• Dean Waite as Josh
• Jael Elizabeth Steinmeyer as Lexie
• Kara Wang as Kathy
• Brittany Hingle as Chelsea
• Carolina Sabate as Angie
• Trigve Hagen as Gideon
• Curtis Wingfield as Ben
• April Stewart as Joyce Stewart
• Reyver Huante as Bill Herman
• Tammy Klein as Louise Herman
• Lauren Leah Mitchell as Callie Daniels
• Kevin Morris as Detective Simonelli

Storyline:

Megan Stewart, 14, and her best friend Amy Herman, 13, though opposites in personality, are best friends. Megan carries the front of being the most popular girl in school, but this masks a lifestyle of hard partying, drugs, alcohol and indiscriminate sex. Amy, unpopular and socially awkward, clings to her relationship with Megan as a lifeline to social acceptance. Together, these two young girls forge a deep friendship based on their mutual needs. The two girls regularly communicate by web chat cameras or cell phone, and even meet boys online. As Megan seeks friends who are different from her usual posse of hanger-ons, she is introduced by a friend online to a 17 year-old boy named Josh in a chat room. Megan and Josh bond quickly, leaving Amy feeling a bit left out. One day, Megan goes to meet Josh in person, and she is never seen again. Amy launches into a concentrated effort to find her friend. As the media swirls around the story of Megan’s disappearance, Amy discovers the horrifying truth about what happened to her friend. Based on research into seven actual cases of child abduction, MEGAN IS MISSING is an uncompromising, gut-wrenching view of the world children live in today. Harrowing in its realism, the film uses only fact-based incidences to depict the lives of ordinary kids walking in the midst of extraordinary evil.

About Movie:

Megan Is Missing is an American found footage psychological horror film written, directed, edited, and co-produced by Michael Goi. The story is based on real-life child abduction cases, with notable endorsement from Marc Klaas, founder of the KlaasKids Foundation. The film stars Amber Perkins, Rachel Quinn, Dean Waite, Jael Elizabeth Steinmeyer, and Kara Wang.

Originally conceived as a low-budget independent project in 2006, the film was made with a budget of $30,000–$35,000. After struggling to find distribution, Anchor Bay Films gave it a limited theatrical release in 2011.

The film stirred significant controversy for its graphic depiction of sexual violence and disturbing imagery. Although marketed as an educational film, it was banned in New Zealand and faced heavy criticism.

Goi wrote the script in just 10 days and filmed the movie in a week, requesting that the parents of the young actors be present on set to ensure they were fully aware of the content.

Megan Is Missing is regarded as one of the earliest computer screen films. In 2020, it gained renewed attention on TikTok, where users shared clips, calling the movie “traumatizing.” Goi later issued warnings to potential viewers about its intense content. Entertainment Weekly hailed it as “2011’s scariest horror film.” The film also placed sixth on the DEG Watched at Home Top 20 Chart for the week ending November 21, 2020.

A few years after its release, a production company in Mexico approached Goi to make a Spanish-language remake of the film with a Mexican cast. Goi declined the offer as he did not want to revisit the grim subject matter. However, he stated that he has theorized making a sequel but no progress has been made due to there being “no angle” for him to take the story.