Missing ending explained: What happened to June’s mom Grace?

Looking for a fast-paced thriller to watch this weekend? Sony’s 2023 movie Missing has just been added to Netflix and we’re sure it’ll shoot straight to the platform’s Top 10. The film, directed by Will Merrick and Nick Johnson, stars Euphoria‘s Storm Reid as a young woman named June. After her mother Grace goes on vacation overseas with her new boyfriend and seemingly disappears, June takes it upon herself to sleuth the internet to find her.

Missing is a standalone sequel to the 2018 thriller Searching, which is directed by Aneesh Chaganty and stars John Cho. Though the movies aren’t connected, they both have similar gripping mysteries that are set on computer screens and other devices. Once you start watching Missing, it’s impossible to look away until the credits start to roll. So do we get the answers to all of our pressing questions in the end? What happened to Grace?

MAJOR SPOILERS ahead for Missing.

We’re breaking down all the unexpected twists and turns at the conclusion of Missing and explaining what happens to June’s mom.

Missing: Is June’s dad alive?

Through her own investigation, June discovers that her mom never even ended up going on the trip to Colombia. Instead, her boyfriend Kevin hired someone to act like her mom so he could send June photos of their vacation and make it seem like they’re safe and sound. In reality, however, Kevin set the whole thing up with his former prison mate “Jimmy,” who is actually June’s father James.

For years, June believed her father James had died after battling cancer, but she learns that her mom made that up to protect her. James was abusive to Grace and used drugs, posing a major threat to his family. So Grace left him and ran off with June to keep her protected, and they had been living in hiding from him. After meeting him in prison, James decided to hire Kevin to act as Grace’s boyfriend to learn about her whereabouts and capture her.

Unfortunately, June is kidnapped by James and taken to their old home, where she sees her mom is also being held. Though June is happy to see her mom, that relief is short-lived when James shoots Grace. June reacts and ends up stabbing her dad and killing him, and then is able to call the police.

Missing: Does June’s mom Grace die?

Though Grace does get shot by James, she fortunately survives. The end of Missing shows what the mother and daughter duo are up to months after the incident, with June living off at college. Their story has been turned into an episode of a true crime show Unfiction, and the two seem to be in a very good place.

Missing is certainly a movie that will have viewers on the edge of their seats, and we’re happy it has a positive ending for the two characters, despite the trauma they had to go through.