The Missing, a touching movie about a passionate mother named Maggie, who is played by Cate Blanchett, who is a doctor who lives in the boonies of New Mexico during the late 1800’s, 1886 actually. She has two daughters, one played by Evan Rachel Wood, who played in Thirteen, her name is Lily and she is a teenager. Maggie’s other daughter, Dot, is played by Jenna Boyd, who is quite young.
The movie begins as Maggies boyfriend is bringing back some food to the house, when Tommy Lee Jones appears. He plays Jones, who is Maggie’s father. Maggie does not like her father being at the house. Jones left the home and Maggie is furious with him and does not want anything to do with him.
One afternoon, Lily, Dot and Maggie’s boyfriend go to the town to a little fair. They promise to be back before dark. Maggie waits and as the darkness comes, she becomes worried. But as the light comes, she is extremely worried. One of her horse comes back with no one on it. She decides to take this issues in her own hand and goes to look for her family.
She goes into the forest, finds her Mexican friend dead, as well as her boyfriends head. She also finds Dot, who is in hysterics. Dot tells her mother all that has happened. She says that some men took Lily away. Maggie brings back her daughter to her house. She goes into town but the police are no help at all.
She goes to her father, who is a great hunter, she tries to keep her hatred away, and asks her father to help find her daughter. He agrees. As Maggie tells her young daughter to go to another home so she can find her sister, Dot won’t leave her mother and refuses to go without her. Maggie reluctantly agrees and they take a few horses and leave.
As another scene flashes, you see a group of young girls, including Lily, gagged and hands tied behind their back. You see the witch, who has many deadly remedies and spells that can hurt anyone. This group of men are planning to sell these girls to Mexicans as wives. As they slowly go on their journey, Lily almost escapes but the other girl kills herself next to her dead daughter and Lily is caught.
As Jones, Maggie and Dot go on their long journey, a storm approaches. Dot almost drowns, but Jones saves her. They spot the group of men and must get to them. They plan to buy Lily and another girl, who is a friend of Jones’s wives. As Jones approaches the camp, the witch and other men laugh in his face and almost kill him. As he slowly returns to camp, he feels hopeless.
Maggie is determined to find her daughter. So they go back on their journey. They come close to getting Lily, but obstacles occur. They finally get to the camp, kill a bunch of these cruel, greedy men, but not the witch. They get the girls and try to go to a safe spot. But the witch is going to get them, or try to.
As the Mexicans arrive to buy the girls, the witch has nothing to sell and kills them, and takes the horses and goes to find them. The other men try to get them back, but Maggie and Jones have good shots and kill them. But as the witch climbs up the cliff, Jones has to take this matter himself. As they fight they jump off the cliff and the witch is finally dead, but so is the brave Jones. It is all over. The other men leave. After all the pain and suffering the witch has caused, he is finally dead. Maggie goes to see her father and has a sense of respect for her father like she never has. He has saved Lily. He risked his own life for her. As they slowly return home, the movie ends.
This movie was a touching story. Selling girls actually did happen, so I found this movie very realistic. It was sad, and very very well acted. All the actors did an excellent job. The man who played the witch did an excellent job. I recommend this movie 100%. This movie was directed by Ron Howard. Excellent job.