Noor Malhotra
Directed by Michael Goi, ‘Megan Is Missing’ is a horror drama shot in a found-footage style. It explores the disappearance of 14-year-old Megan Stewart (Rachel Quinn) and how her best friend, Amy Herman (Amber Perkins), deals with the situation. The gory and hard-hitting tale seeks to shed light on the issue of child abduction and how technology massively aids predatory behavior in today’s world. So, without further ado, let’s dissect the truth about the disappearance of the girls. SPOILERS AHEAD!
Megan is Missing Plot Synopsis
Megan Stewart is an honors student and is one of the cool kids. At first glance, it may seem as though she just likes to boss people around and get her way all the time. However, the 14-year-old party queen actually has a tumultuous home life owing to an incident in her past. Her stepfather sexually assaulted her when she was 9, and Megan’s mother blames her for his subsequent conviction.
Amy is the docile and meek best friend who has an entirely different personality to Megan’s. Still, they share a sweet bond. One day, Megan is introduced to Josh online, and the two start talking. But he never turns his video camera on, so Megan doesn’t know what he looks like. The two make plans to meet up behind the local diner, which is when she goes missing. Amy then tries her best to find her friend but finds herself in unfortunate circumstances.
Who Killed Megan and Amy?
Josh is the psychopath who killed Megan and buried Amy alive in the same barrel as her best friend’s corpse. The man, who claims to be a 17-year-old “skater dude,” is the one who very gruesomely sodomizes and murders the young teenagers. Despite being instrumental to the story, no information about his real identity is revealed. (This only adds to the horrifying milieu of the movie). A few minor clues have been sprinkled throughout, so let’s review them one by one.
Firstly, there’s the fact that Josh is obviously not 17. The security footage chronicling Megan’s abduction clearly shows that a man, not a teenager, is responsible for the crime. Plus, anyone can hide their identity on the internet. The veil of anonymity that the web provides can and is used for evil misdeeds as well. Towards the end of the movie, the perpetrator even states that his name is not Josh. (But since we don’t have any other details about his identity, we will stick with the name for the sake of this discussion).
Josh is someone who seems utterly charming and flirtatious with Megan when they first talk. At the beginning of the movie, she is surrounded by boys who usually look at her as just a sexual being. Furthermore, she was subjected to rape by her own stepfather when she was 9, and at 10, she performed her first oral sex act. So when smooth-talking and seemingly pleasant Josh enters Megan’s life, it’s almost like a breath of fresh air.
However, he never reveals his face, which is the first major red flag. After Megan goes missing, Josh even intimidatingly talks down to Amy, essentially trying to attack her self-worth. When the friend goes to the police and shares the limited information she has on him, he is naturally threatened. Unbeknownst to her, the psychopath starts stalking her, as is seen in the scene where Amy goes to their secret spot under the bridge. (Even then, only his shady figure is visible, but no other details are revealed).
At first, we thought that the stepfather could have been behind these crimes. Maybe this was his twisted form of revenge against the person that sent him to jail. But given that Megan’s mother still blames the daughter for the conviction and the fact that they fight like enemies, it seems highly unlikely that he has been released from prison. Hence, the possibility of him being Josh is discarded. After reviewing the evidence, we think that the culprit is just a stranger representing the very real perils of unsupervised forms of online communication, especially concerning children.
The whole ordeal begins because Josh is able to manipulate Megan into coming to the diner. Clearly, there is little to no supervision in her life, so she does what she wants. Moreover, talking to her friends online and meeting new boys at parties is extremely normal for a teenage girl. Therefore, Josh doesn’t pose a threat to Megan as she doesn’t feel like she is doing something out of the ordinary. For her, this is just what teenagers do.
But this is exactly what Josh chooses to take advantage of. In his captivity, Megan is sodomized and brutalized, as is seen in the two photos. Amy, too, is tied on a leash and fed food from a dog bowl before being raped. Such incidents seek to highlight the actual trauma victims of similar real-life situations face. Josh represents the dangers of online anonymity. He is a stalking and murderous psychopath who not only kills Megan but also gets rid of Amy by burying her alive in a barrel alongside her best friend’s corpse.
Megan is Missing Ending
Josh is furious after Amy talks to the police about him and threatens her. It is also revealed that he has been stalking her, and we see him lurking behind the trees when she goes to the spot under the bridge where she keeps Billy Bear. He abducts her when she goes there for the second time. At his lair, we see Amy in her underwear with a leash around her neck.
Amy keeps screaming for help but to no avail. In fact, Josh even throws water at her and tells her that it is not his real name. He then humiliates her by making her eat food from a dog bowl. Moreover, he even places Billy Bear in front of her while she does so. Following this, he proceeds to rape her and literally gets her blood on his hands in the process.
A few moments later, Josh comes back and apologizes. He asks her to enter the barrel so that the location remains a secret. However, Megan’s dead body is inside it, and Amy freaks out. She tries to run away, but he overpowers her and locks her in the barrel. He then goes to the woods, where he is seen digging a massive pit. All this time, Amy, in an effort to secure her freedom, repeatedly states that she loves him. But why would this matter to a psychopath who is devoid of emotions?
Naturally, Josh keeps digging and then pushes the barrel into the huge cavity. Amy screams at the top of her lungs, but as expected, he just covers up the pit and leaves. No one else who could rescue the girl is seen in the vicinity. In the end, we see an old clip of Megan and Amy discussing how they envisioned their lives in the future.
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