Here’s Why Everyone On TikTok Is Obsessed With ‘Megan Is Missing’
Megan is Missing is a 2011 American horror movie told through the lens of found footage. We meet two high school best friends, Megan Stewart and Amy Herman, who often communicate over webcam. Their lives are typical for high school students. They discuss their friends, parents, and boys at school. It becomes clear Megan’s home life leaves something to be desired and what she most wants is for someone to love her.
Soon, Megan meets someone online who claims to be a 17-year-old named Josh with a broken webcam (so she doesn’t know what he looks like and can’t confirm his age). They eventually decide to meet in the parking lot behind a diner. Security footage shows Megan being abducted from the lot.
Distraught, Amy searches for her best friend. She reports “Josh” to the police. While alone in the woods visiting a spot she used to hang out with Megan, Amy is also abducted.
Here’s the trailer:
So why is the movie experiencing a resurgence?
The last 15 minutes of this horror movie are unforgettable. They will stain your brain with images of real horror as the “found footage” reveals the fate of these two poor girls. In raw, terrifying photos and video, we see that they were sexually abused, tortured, and eventually killed and placed in blue 50 gallon barrels to be disposed of.
This footage is extremely graphic and I’m not sure I would ever recommend someone else watch this movie.
The reason this is going viral on Tiktok is that users are posting their organic reactions to the horror of this movie. The film is so shocking, everyone who watches it tends to have a big reaction to it. Because of this, we also crave seeing the way other people react, because we want to relive the moment of shock and horror for ourselves.
The trend has gotten so big that the director of Megan is Missing, Michael Goi, has even posted this warning on Tiktok to people wanting to see the film for the first time:
@michaelgoi
He warns viewers that there is no “real” footage in the movie. Goi says he worked with forensic investigators to make accurate recreations of what has been found in real child abduction cases. He says he wanted the film to be horrifying in order for people to understand the risks of meeting strangers online.
If you want to see for yourself, Megan is Missing is streaming on Amazon and YouTube.