Fans of “Only Murders in the Building” going into the comedy “Susie Searches,” which follows a college student with a true crime podcast taking a mystery into her own hands, may be in for a surprise at just how dark the film gets.
The film’s stars Kiersey Clemons and Alex Wolff told TheWrap following the movie’s premiere at TIFF that the movie is “way more disturbing” than even they expected it would be.
“It’s really unsettling,” Wolff said. “I think it’s fun to know that. It’s fun for people to know that they’re not going to feel comfortable watching this movie. They’re going to not know when they should laugh or if they can’t. It’s going to be a fun, thrilling, challenging, hilarious watch for people. It’s very important to have a movie that doesn’t tell you exactly how you feel at every single moment and instead presents what’s going on, and it creepy crawls into your skin. And you have to decide for yourself. There aren’t a lot of movies like that.”
“Susie Searches” is the directorial debut of Sophie Kargman, whose film follows a young woman (Clemons) with a true crime podcast living in middle America but who has few people actually listening or paying attention. But when a student at her school goes missing, she sees an opportunity to flex her sleuthing muscles and follows it down a dark road as she does whatever she can to attract attention.
Kargman said she wanted to make an elevated genre film, but also a character study for “our society’s current fixation with insta-celebrity.”
“It’s about a girl who desperately wants to be heard. That quest for validation is a very universal thing. We all want to be seen and be recognized,” Kargman said. “Even though Kiersey’s actions are complicated, I would hope that people see themselves in her and empathize with her emotions and root for her. At the end of the day, we’re all like Susie in one way or another.”
Clemons too said she found herself relating to the charms of Susie, despite her actions that get her into trouble.
“I really related to how she’s trying to find a place to let out all of this life that she has and bring joy into people’s lives if they let her in, because she has so much to offer,” Clemons said. “I really relate to Susie. She tugged on my heart strings.”
Check out the full interview with the “Susie Searches” team above.
Studio sponsors include GreenSlate, Moët & Chandon, PEX and Vancouver Film School.
