Last Seen Leaving (2006)

Twentysomething Miranda is adrift in dead-end jobs in Pittsburgh and out of touch with her mom, Anne, who settled in Arizona after the mysterious 1984 death of her pilot husband (Miranda's dad) near Central America. When Miranda totals her car one night, she accepts a ride from a stranger and decides to drop everything (including her name) and head to a Virginia beach town. Kelly Braffet convincingly depicts prickly Miranda's escape from her past — and the frenzy of Anne's delayed search for her months later. But Last Seen Leaving, this compelling tale of mother-daughter estrangement, nearly gets lost in a thrillerish overcoat bursting with CIA operatives and serial killers.