Being recognized in person is one thing, but in these days, online fame seems to be everyone’s final goal. Sophie Kargman’s newest film, Susie Searches, attempts to dive deeper into this phenomenon, through protagonist Susie, a college student with a passion for true crime and a podcast to share her thoughts. While failing to attract the amount of listeners and online attention she once hoped for, Susie tackles a local crime, hoping to solve the case and shoot her podcast into fame. But what follows is a complex ride through the aftermath of Susie’s involvement in the case, resulting in a story that will leave viewers shocked. While tackling this concept of online fame and recognition in a unique and compelling story, some odd editing choices in the film seem to hinder the film from ever settling on an overall tone, despite a compelling performance from Kiersey Clemons as true-crime-aficionado-turned-internet-star Susie herself.

Susie Searches is a fast-paced film that keeps viewers’ attention throughout its runtime. Moving quickly through its first act, telling a story that some films could make into their entire plot, initial twists in the seemingly basic storyline of a young girl attempting to solve a local crime keep viewers guessing throughout. While sometimes expected, the twists keep fresh the sometimes stale and predictable genre of mystery and crime films, causing viewers to question whose side they are on throughout the film. Kiersey Clemons perfectly captures the socially awkward yet passionate Susie with a performance that is surprisingly complex for the tone the film seems to set in the first act, of a more light and fun mystery movie.

Aside from the compelling plot and strong performance from Clemons, some unique and off editing choices seem to hinder the film from setting an overall tone, causing abrupt and unexpected shifts in the tone throughout the first two acts of the film. With fun, bright moments quickly cut to tense and dark scenes, and with editing techniques more alligned with a fun-loving coming of age children’s film rather than a mystery film, these abrupt shifts hold the viewer back from every becoming too invested in one tone or the other. Instead, whipped between these highly contrasting tones, the film instead seems to not know how it is trying to come off, until the third act, accompanied by a much more sinister overall flavour to drive the twists of the film home.

Susie Searches, directed by Sophie Kargman, is a new addition to the mystery-crime genre. Following Susie, as she attempts to solve a local crime to help launch her podcast into fame, the many twists along the way, as well as Clemons’ performance as the podcast host Susie keep viewers entertained throughout the film’s runtime. With some questionable editing and cinematography choices hindering the film’s overall ability to set a clear and concise tone, overall Susie Searches is definitely a fun film for mystery lovers seeking something different than their average true crime mystery film.

Susie Searches (2022) is available for rental on most major video-on-demand platforms in Canada.