MIA – Movie Review (4/5)

MIA is a new psychological thriller with an 80-minute runtime and a plot that packs a punch. This is a stellar indie production that keeps you guessing. It’s slow-burn but constantly moving forward. Read our full Mia movie review here!

MIA is the kind of psychological thriller that keeps you engaged from start to finish. Many movies attempt to have their audience in a state of uncertainty, but few are as successful as this indie movie.

Even the runtime of just around 80 minutes works perfectly for the story told. Very few characters are part of the story, and only two of them are on the screen for most of the movie. And yet, this movie has me on the edge of my seat.

Continue reading our Mia movie review below. Find it on Digital from July 8, 2025.

What is real?

With Mia, the struggle of the audience is trying to figure out what’s real. We meet Aaron (Shah Motia) as he apparently lives out of his car and appears to be stalking teenage girls. It gives major creep vibes, and people understandably react badly to this.

Next, we see him grab a young girl, whom we have previously seen traveling with her mom. Her name is Emma (Emiliana Jasper), and Aaron is convinced that she is his missing daughter, Mia.

His daughter has been missing for more than a decade, and now he’s trying to jog Emma’s memory to make her realize who she really is. Emma, however, denies ever having met him and is terrified of the man.

As the story progresses, it becomes increasingly difficult to figure out what’s real. Could Aaron be right? And what would that mean for Emma and her mom?!

Deeply unsettling

What makes Mia work so well is the character-driven plot. We feel for the characters as we see Aaron treat the girl with nothing but love. And Emma, whom he calls Mia, also goes from being afraid of him to feeling for him.

As everyone meeting Aaron will no doubt realize, he believes with all his heart that he has finally found his long-lost daughter. Of course, it also becomes apparent that Aaron’s grip on reality isn’t quite to be trusted.

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But can both things be true? Can Aaron be a man not quite in touch with reality, and could Emma be his missing daughter, Mia? That’s what you need to figure out, and the movie will keep you guessing.

In fact, the final twists around the ending of this story were both intense, heartbreaking, and full of compassion.

Comparisons to Prisoners and Gone Girl have been used for the press material, and it’s fair, but Mia has something even more unique that only small indie movies can achieve.

Watch Mia on Digital now

The writer and director of MIA is Luis Ferrer, and what an accomplishment this movie is. I don’t want to give away too much, as the 80-minute runtime needs to be experienced.

While I would’ve enjoyed watching a movie like this psychological thriller with a movie-loving film festival audience, it also works perfectly when watched at home. These characters get under your skin, and that is what makes you keep questioning everything.

Slow-burn intensity has an edge to it that makes a story hit much harder. For Mia, it’s the character-driven plot and a script that always anticipates the questions or possibly annoyances of its audience. Very impressive filmmaking.

I can’t wait to see what comes next from Luis Ferrer, but I really hope it will be a thriller or horror movie. Until the next movie, you can now enjoy watching this one at home.

MIA is out across digital and home platforms on July 8, 2025.

Details

Director: Luis Ferrer
Writer: Luis Ferrer
Cast: Shah Motia, Emiliana Jasper, Julie Lucido, Eden Ferrer, Tim Willis