**’American Sweatshop’ Review: A Gripping Thriller That Unveils the Internet’s Dark Side**
Have you ever stumbled across an online video so unsettling that it stuck with you long after you had moved on? Occasionally, violent or disturbing content surfaces in our feeds before we can look away, leaving a lasting mark on our thoughts. Now, picture a job where you must view such material without flinching. This bleak scenario is the daily grind for content moderators—underpaid individuals responsible for evaluating disturbing videos to see if they conform to their company’s ambiguous and often contentious guidelines. This distressing premise paves the way for *American Sweatshop*, a tense and riveting thriller.
Lili Reinhart (*Riverdale*) plays Daisy, a young woman working for an undisclosed social media platform tasked with reviewing user-uploaded videos. Her routine involves scrutinizing footage of strangulations, fatal accidents, and other nightmarish scenarios while following corporate policies that view employees as mere components of a machine. The expectation is emotional detachment, but when Daisy encounters a particularly horrific video featuring a woman, a hammer, and a nail, she is unable to turn away. Disturbed by what she has witnessed, she becomes fixated on discovering the truth—regardless of the consequences.
Tense and profoundly character-oriented, *American Sweatshop* keeps the audience on the edge of their seats, forcing them to watch through their fingers as the enigma unfolds.
### *American Sweatshop* Unveils the Inhumanity of Corporate Digital Operations
“We’re not censors; we’re moderators,” asserts Daisy’s boss (Christiane Paul), reciting corporate jargon that pretends to uphold free speech while evading ethical accountability. This is the kind of language one might expect from tech leaders like Mark Zuckerberg; however, within this context, it rationalizes the approval of detrimental content. In a chilling moment, Daisy’s superior calmly outlines when certain slurs are acceptable, never using one herself. This is where *American Sweatshop* truly shines—it critiques the system without sensationalizing the terrors it denounces.
Director Uta Briesewitz, recognized for her contributions to *Severance*, *Black Mirror*, and *Stranger Things*, skillfully navigates what the viewer sees versus what is left for the imagination. Similar to the praised horror thriller *Red Rooms*, *American Sweatshop* circumvents the exploitation of the shocking videos it alludes to. Instead, Matthew Nemeth’s screenplay conveys their horror through ominous video titles such as “fetus in blender” and emphasizes the psychological strain on the moderators, some of whom face breakdowns or make darkly humorous remarks about setting the office ablaze.
In terms of the video that haunts Daisy, Briesewitz provides only fleeting glimpses—an eerie picture of a woman on a grimy mattress, an old man spying from a distance, and an attacker in snakeskin boots lifting a hammer. The true horror arises not from graphic visuals but from the apathy of those surrounding Daisy, which includes a police officer who trivializes her worries.
### *American Sweatshop* Melds Dark Humor with Corporate Dread
Much like *Severance*, *American Sweatshop* uncovers dark humor within the heartless corporate culture that exploits its staff. However, unlike the exaggerated satire found in the Apple TV+ series, this film remains rooted in reality, making its commentary all the more unsettling.
Daisy’s workplace is managed by a heartless supervisor, a ineffective counselor (Tim Plester) who provides little more than nine-minute breaks and generic coping tips, and higher-ups who value productivity over employee welfare. When instances of moderators fainting or experiencing breakdowns arise, the company’s response is to propose a morale-boosting event—an after-work pub gathering with a cash bar. This serves as a bleakly humorous critique of late-stage capitalism, resonating deeply as it feels all too authentic.
Reinhart’s supporting cast enriches the film’s examination of workplace fatigue. Daniela Melchior portrays Daisy’s fashionable yet emotionally distant best friend, whose blunt honesty can be quite shocking. Joel Fry injects unpredictable energy as the office’s resident troublemaker, often on the brink of an explosion. Jeremy Ang Jones embodies the naive newcomer, so innocent that his colleagues bet on how long it will take before he buckles under the pressure.
Through hushed chats at their desks, stolen moments during lunch, and tipsy confessions at the dreaded work event, these characters cultivate fragile yet significant connections. Their relationships illustrate how trauma can become a standard aspect of a toxic work atmosphere, where the worst of humanity is just a click away.
### A Thriller That Keeps You Watching
Despite its edge-of-your-seat suspense, *American Sweatshop* does not adhere to the conventional Hollywood vigilante storyline. Daisy does not suddenly transform into a tech prodigy or a master tactician.