In “American Sweatshop”, Lili Reinhart delivers a haunting performance as Daisy Moriarty, a young woman working as a social media moderator. Her job? Filtering out the worst of the internet—graphic violence, disturbing imagery, and the dark content most of us never see. But what happens when the lines between her work and her sanity begin to blur?
“American Sweatshop” Premise
By day, Daisy is exposed to trauma; by night, she turns to substances to cope. Her dream of becoming a nurse feels worlds away. Everything changes when she stumbles on a video that appears to capture a real-life crime—pushing her from passive moderator to obsessed truth-seeker.
Directed by “The Wire” and “Black Mirror” alum Uta Briesewitz, the film is a tense, emotional thriller that explores the toll of life behind the screen. Briesewitz brings raw urgency to the story, asking big questions about accountability, justice, and the ethics of content moderation.
Reinhart shines in her most complex role to date, breaking away from her Riverdale roots with a performance that’s both vulnerable and fierce. As Daisy spirals deeper into obsession, the film holds a mirror up to our own relationship with social media—and the unseen labor keeping our feeds clean.
Premiering at SXSW, American Sweatshop has earned praise for its gripping story and timely themes, even if its final act divided some critics. Still, its impact is clear: it’s a call to reckon with the psychological cost of scrolling—and the people who pay the price so we don’t have to. “American Sweatshop” premieres September 19 in theaters.
