In 2006, young Oliver Hughes mysteriously disappeared when his vacationing family's car broke down in the provincial French village of Chalons du Bois (the French scenes in the series were actually filmed in Beligum). Eight years later, his broken father Tony (James Nesbitt, OUTCAST) returns to follow up on the latest of the many leads he has followed over the years as he has descended into the alcoholism and depression that cost him his marriage to equally distraught Emily (Frances O'Connor, THE HUNTER) who herself is still trying to move on with an impending marriage to British detective Mark Walsh (Jason Flemyng, BRUISER) who had served as the couple's police liaison during the 2006 investigation. When local police detective Laurence (Émilie Dequenne, THE PACK) cannot discourage Tony making a nuisance of himself to the locals - who have not forgotten the impact the investigation made on their village - she contacts the original head investigator Julien Baptiste (Tcheky Karyo, POINT OF NO RETURN), now retired after a career-ending leg injury during the case. Baptiste tries to convince Tony to let go of the past but nevertheless follows up on Tony's lead: a photograph of a tourist child wearing Oliver's monogrammed scarf. Neither man is prepared for the shocking discovery of the house where it appears the boy was kept and subsequent video evidence of Oliver from the night after he disappeared. Baptiste and Laurence press for the village's reputation-minded mayor Georges Deloix (Eric Godon, IN BRUGES) to re-open the investigation, and Baptiste must resort to blackmail to do so. The new investigation brings up new leads but also many buried secrets, and the series moves back and forth between the 2006 and 2014 investigations as well as events in the intervening years shedding light on the significance of clues past and present but also depicting the ways in which those involved have been scarred by the case and their attempts to move on with their lives. Also figuring into the case is philanthropist Ian Garrett (Ken Stott, SHALLOW GRAVE) whose financial aid to the investigation and the Hughes family is suspect, sex offender Vincent Bourg (Titus De Voogdt, BEN X) who is cleared of involvement but haunted by something he holds back during his attempts to find a cure for his affliction, Romanian addict turned English teacher Rini Dalca (Anamaria Marinca, 4 MONTHS, 3 WEEKS, AND 2 DAYS) who nearly lost her life trying to obtain information for Baptiste from a trafficking ring, Baptiste's long-suffering wife Celia (Anastasia Hille, THE AWAKENING) and drug-addicted daughter Sara (Camille Schotte), investigator Khalid Ziane (Saïd Taghmaoui, LA HAINE) who is blackmailed into leaking information by Malik Suri (Arsher Ali, FOUR LIONS), a journalist eager to make his big break with the case and not caring who he has to step on to do so, including Tony and Emily who he has continued to hound over the years in preparation for his book on the case in which he plans to reveal what really happened to Oliver. Tony's own propensity for violence and secrets between himself and Emily interfere with Baptiste's investigation and alienate her from fiancee Mark (who has also concealed his continued involvement in Baptiste's investigation behind her back). Drawing as much from real-life missing persons cases of the British abroad as films like AND SOON THE DARKNESS, THE MISSING is constantly diverting and heart-wrenching with excellent lead performances from Karyo, Nesbitt, and O'Connor.