Missing arrived in theatres last weekend and we were fortunate to attend an Atlanta special screening of the film and speak with the film’s lead actress Storm Reid.

If you’re looking for a great film to check out – we HIGHLY recommend Missing, from the minds behind Searching. It’s a thrilling roller-coaster mystery that makes you wonder how well you know those closest to you.

In the film, Storm plays June, an 18-year-old Los Angeles teen whose mother (Nia Long) disappears while on vacation in Colombia with her new boyfriend. Stuck thousands of miles away, June creatively uses all the latest technology at her fingertips to try and find her before it’s too late. As she digs deeper, her digital sleuthing raises more questions than answers…and when June unravels secrets about her mom, she questions whether she really knew her at all.

Check out the trailer below:

Can you imagine the stress levels if YOUR parent went missing in another country? Let’s pray that never happens. Still, after roles in thrillers like Don’t Let Go and The Invisible Man, it’s clear that Storm is always ready willing, and able to tackle these wildly suspenseful situations on the big screen.

“When I was reading the script of Missing, I was just on the edge of my seat the entire time,” Reid told Global Grind Sr. Content Director Janeé Bolden. “When I thought I knew something was happening I would turn a couple of pages and have no idea what was coming with the plot twists. So it was really fun to read and I watched Searching after it, and I fell even more in love with the idea of the project, and I think when I’m in these situations I try to be a part of purposeful and intentional projects and you know sometimes they have a harder subject matter than other things.”

“I’m going to do something with some levity real soon,” she added.

Source: Courtesy / Sony Pictures

At the screening we attended, the audience got super engaged as the movie began to take some wild twists and turns. Reid said that while she doesn’t necessarily love watching hself so she left the theater after the first twenty minutes but was able to return before the end and was loving the energy from viewers.

“I came back in when things started to get rowdy in the movie,” Storm told Global Grind. “People were like talking and I was hearing people’s commentary and the screams and everybody was so engaged, so that made me really happy.”

Source: Matt Winkelmeyer / Getty

Of course we also had to ask Storm about working with Nia Long, who is having a MOMENT right now with big roles in The Best Man: Final Chapters and You People as well as Missing, which only add to her incredible impactful legacy, helping to pave the way for the next generation of Black actresses, such as herself.

“She is an icon in her own right and a legend in our community, so to be able to work with somebody that you’ve grown up watching is really cool,” Reid told Global Grind. ” She was so supportive and so lovely on set and made me feel so comfortable. She’s not afraid to take risks on set and she’s not afraid to switch it up. Sometimes I get stuck in my head, or I have a way of how I want to do a certain scene, but she’s always adding something new and taking things away and I just admire that quality in actors so that made me realize that I should try to practice that on set a little bit more.”

One of the key elements in the film is June and her mom’s incredible dynamic, which actually reminded us of the closeness Storm has with her mom, Robyn. We asked her how she was able to relate to the role, with this in mind.

“I think June and Grace’s relationship is really relatable because even though parents and children are close, sometimes parents and children bump heads,” Storm said. “It’s a normal thing, but I do love that even though she was a little upset with her mom, or they had gotten in a little argument or disagreement before she left, that’s her mom and at the end of the day, that’s her only parent so she’s going to go to the ends of the earth to find her and I would do the same thing I would do anything to find my mom if she was missing.”

Lastly, we had to ask Storm how she is balancing these incredible roles all while continuing to thrive as a student at the University of Southern California.

“It’s a little challenging and can get overwhelming, but I’m just so grateful and fortunate that I am able to balance both,” Storm told us. “It’s really just about scheduling and knowing where I need to be when I need to be there, but I’ve made it extremely clear to my team, and obviously my support system, my family and friends, but specifically my team, that both furthering my education and also continuing to work and build this career that I have, they’re equally important so we just gotta make it work.

Source: Courtesy / Sony Pictures

“We gotta do what we gotta do,” Storm continued. “I love being a student, I love being at school and learning I love going to the football games and the parties, so I get the best of both worlds.”

Of course, we know she’s such a smart and capable young woman but we can only imagine how difficult it must be juggling so much responsibility!

That said — we have to APPLAUD Storm on being an incredible leading lady. Make sure you check out Missing, in THEATRES NOW!