John Cho in Searching (Elizabeth Kitchens/Screen Gems)

Generally, when a low-budget horror film comes up with a clever low-budget idea that makes a fair amount of money, like, say, having some young folk record themselves running through the woods from an unknown force (The Blair Witch Project) or a mindless killer picking people off one by one (the “Friday the 13th” series), eventually studios are going to come sniffing around and give the genre a bit of an upgrade in casting and style. They tend to clean the films up, with prettier people and less cynicism or nihilism. So arrives Searching, distributed by a division of Sony Pictures. The movie takes on the relatively new gimmick of having all the action take place on a computer screen, a concept already staked out by Open Windows and the “Unfriended” series.

This one centers on a father and daughter. They seem to have a loving relationship, and they’ve grown tighter since the mom passed away from cancer a couple of years back. David Kim, played by John Cho, exudes a casual, everyday air, somewhat like Tom Hanks, and Michelle La is his 16-year-old daughter, Margot, whose every moment on screen reveals her character’s pain even when Margot is plainly trying to hide it. One evening, Margot doesn’t come home from a study group. At first, David thinks she’s staying with one of her friends, but after a day without a response, he becomes anxious and calls the police. Enter Detective Vick (Debra Messing), who makes a strong connection with David. She gives David leeway to do some detective work of his own and go through Margot’s contacts.

And this is where it’s gets fun. Turns out Margot really doesn’t have many friends. Sure, she’s got plenty of Facebook friends, but when David interviews them, it turns out nobody really knows Margot that well. David digs deeper, breaking into Margot’s Twitter and Instagram account, and the deeper he digs, the more worried he should be.

Writer/director Aneesh Chaganty provides plenty of feints and red herrings for David and, by extension, the viewers to dig through, each more clever than the last. Like a good thriller, there’s more than just escapist chills at work. Searching is also a trenchant commentary on the falsehood of online life. In life, we publicly put our best face forward while hiding our inner discomfort. But with the Internet and the tenuous connections it manifests, it can be even harder to see the warning signs of impending depression or worse. Chaganty serves up a parent’s worst nightmare: not only do we not know our kids, but nobody else really does either. Another neat side observation that Searching brings to light is that parents will truly do anything for their kids. Depending on who you are, that can lead you to the light or to some very dark places.

Chaganty switches deftly between suspense, pathos, and sharp satire. (Watch the girl who claims to David that she doesn’t know Margot very well and then watch her impassioned reminiscence on Snapchat of her “best friend” once Margot goes missing.) There is a bit of a cheat in the concept of the camera’s fixation on the computer screen—eventually there are TV news reports featured and David switches devices. But if you’re not a purist, you could certainly let that slide. Otherwise, sit back and enjoy a well put together fun ride with something serious to say about our increasingly virtual lives.