You may think you know the story, but the accumulation of detail, in new interviews and video and audio clips in this six-part documentary from producer Shawn Carter (also known to the world as musician and mogul Jay-Z), begins like a light snowfall and turns into a bracing nor’easter.

Revenge leaves a lurid, punchy afterimage, an impression somewhere between righteous delight and quivering revulsion. It’s both a challenge and a calling card, in which Ms. Fargeat at once exposes what’s wrong with her chosen genre and demonstrates her mastery of it.

It comes with immense relief, therefore, to discover after most of an hour the beginnings of a true biographical portrait, a kind that continues to grow in strength to the end. It’s a success largely abetted by an assortment of commentators, longtime friends of Williams–among them comedians like Billy Crystal, Eric Idle and Steve Martin–who provide telling observations.

The combination of clever concept reflecting the prevalence of screens in everyday life, and the pleasure of watching a typically underused Mr. Cho take on a meaty lead role make Searching a satisfying psychological thriller.

At 75 minutes, the resulting feature is the definition of slight, but just winsome and optimistic enough to justify itself.

Sollima knits together big, sweeping aerial shots and tight-in, juddering angles that work each nerve not already done to pieces by all the automatic weapons fire and exploding vehicles.