Some film stills used in this article may be disturbing to some viewers. Viewer discretion is advised.Mockumentaries likeMegan Is Missingare a jump aheadof the found footage movementthat began in the late ’90s with a certain film about a witch that botched the intentions of filmmakers trying to make a documentary about the legend. This horror subgenre adds the documentary medium to the equation, and it ends up being much more realistic. After all, this isn’t just a bunch of dudes recording for the sake of registering something. It’s something someone meticulously put together with the sole intention of imprinting an image on your mind and make you lose one night’s sleep. Actually, make that a couple more.
For some viewers, they’re actually the scariest films they’ve ever seen. And in cases likeMegan Is Missing, there aren’t even horror tropes that make it a scary experience. In this case, it’s more about the disturbing nature of what happened to the victims. And yes, this time we get to see it firsthand. It’s what makes up most of the list of the scariest moments inMegan Is Missing. We’d like to tell you to prepare yourself, but nothing will be enough.
10The Threat
After Megan is taken, Amy chats with Josh, the man who Megan was supposed to meet up with and who’s actually “too shy” to send pictures. She realizes he may be involved in Megan’s disappearance, and Josh notices Amy doesn’t trust him anymore. What comes after are a series of threats that reveal early on he’s a monster. Minutes after, photos of Megan appear on a fetish website andMegan Is Missingbecomes much, much darker.
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9There Was Never Hope
A full downer right at the beginning. For those who haven’t seenMegan Is Missing, it documents the disappearance of two teenage friends under strange circumstances. Apparently, it was a man Megan started contacting on the Internet, who could also be the culprit for Amy’s disappearance. The thing is the film never intended to follow a usual structure. In the first scene, we get a title card that confirms both of them vanished. Saying “none of them was ever found” was simply unnecessary.
8The Dungeon
After Amy is taken, the kidnapper keeps recording. Why? He wanted someone to find the footage and that’s it. It’s the beginning of the film’s final 22 minutes that have been the subject of controversy since the release. It’s definitely not real footage, as the director has said over and over again, but the realism doesn’t make it any easier (the same way other films of its kind work). Just as TikTok and the wave of videos that sparked after modern audiences found out aboutMegan Is Missing.
When we see first Amy as a victim, she’s trapped in a dark and dirty room with no light. Usually the kidnapper enters the room and tries to engage with her, but the girl is confused and innocently hopes for him to release her.
7Megan Is Taken
In this very simple scene, Megan is taken. There is evidence taken from a security camera footage that shows the teenager being approached by a man, and her leaving with him. It’s still a subject of discussion if Megan seems stressed or impressed during the encounter. All we can say is… does it matter?
6Amy Is Snatched
Amy is Megan’s friend who’s also contacted by the man in a chatroom. She’s dealing with Megan’s disappearance by recording a video journal. In some sort of confession video she goes under a bridge and starts speaking to the camera. In the very last second we see a hand. The hand of the man who took her. Of course, it isn’t clear who it is, but the footage is cut in a distressing fashion that makes it seem as if the director’s holding back information.
Megan Is Missingis hard to watch. We can’t stress this enough. Its very existence makes people tremble and some of them can’t even watch its third act. For some of the viewers, it’s about Amy being forced to eat like a dog in the dungeon, because it’s the only way the man will give her the teddy bear. It’s an example of the lack of limits the man has for humiliating his victims.
4The One Scene that Makes Everyone Uncomfortable
We will go ahead and say it. Amy is sexually assaulted by the man. This is the one scene that most people fast-forward through because of how graphic it is (there’s no nudity, but it’s not necessary), and because it’s frankly too long. If by this point you didn’t understand the director’s statement of the film being a cautionary tale, then we’re probably not watching the same film.
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3A Nihilistic Way
Inthe film’s ending, Amy is forced to go inside a barrel (if you want to know what’s inside scroll down to the scariest moment). The man locks it, grabs the camera and records the barrel. The sounds of Amy imploring and begging the man for help are too much at this point. But there’s more.
Megan Is Missingends with the man digging up a hole in the ground while Amy says all sorts of things to convince him to let her go. We won’t go into the details of what she says, but the scene is long enough to make you understand Amy’s desperate attempt. When the hole is big enough, he puts the barrel inside and covers it up. Amy’s pleads fade away.
2"Photo #1"
As the investigation continues, someone reports a picture found on a fetish website. It’s a picture of Megan being strapped to some kind of torture device. It’s quite shocking because it’s the film’s turning point. This was no longer a “safe” mockumentary. It will surely get more graphic. By they way, “Photo #2” is even worse than the one you see above. Once again, we’re taking the liberty to confirm that no, the pictures aren’t real. They’re just very well-made for the purposes of making the film more effective.
1Megan Is Found
The jump scare in a film that’s not horror. Nevertheless, it’s not necessary for it to be under that category because of how effective the shot is. As the man says Amy will find Megan if she gets inside the barrel, the camera points to what’s already inside: it’s Megan’s rotting corpse. For some, this is one of thebest jump scaresin horror history.
