When you see a video on social media that’s overtly violent or contains nudity or is just disturbing, you can report that content, which is then flagged and sent to the platform for content moderation. Should the video be removed for harmful content or was it flagged erroneously and should therefore be allowed to live on social media? While AI can certainly do some basic level content migration, much of it is handled by humans, who must sit and watch potentially disturbing images for hours on end, determining whether a video is safe for everyday users to watch. It’s in this world of content migration that Lili Reinhart‘s new film American Sweatshop is set.
In the cyber-thriller directed by Uta Briesewitz, the Riverdale star plays Daisy, a young woman working hour after hour as a content moderator. When she believes that she has witnessed a crime, however, Daisy takes matters into her own hands and begins to investigate in real life. Was the video she saw real or staged? She’s determined to find out.
“The fact people [moderate content] for a living and have to go about their lives at the end of the day, or do it day after day for hours and hours on end, I think people are so fascinated by that concept,” Reinhart says, chatting with Parade before the movie’s release on Sept. 19.
Setting a thriller in the world of content moderating wasn’t the only thing about American Sweatshop that appealed to Reinhart though. “It was also just an original concept in this world of IP and remakes and reboots and f*cking everything else,” she says. “It was an original script sent to me, directed by a woman, a first time feature director and that was exciting.”
Reinhart and Briesewitz were originally supposed to work together on an episode of Black Mirror (Briesewitz directed “Mazey Day” on Season 6), but Reinhart says that “it didn’t work out scheduling-wise.” When Briesewitz approached her about the lead role in American Sweatshop, Reinhart was “stoked to do it with her.”
The movie originally premiered at the 2025 SXSW Film & TV Festival in March before its release in theaters in September. Prior to it’s theatrical debut, Parade sat down with Reinhart to discuss how she prepared for the role, her role as a producer and if her Riverdale co-stars watch each other’s projects.
Read our full interview with Lili Reinhart below:
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Matthew Huff: I always love to see a film about an industry or piece of the world that I knew nothing about before, and I had no idea that content moderating existed although it makes total sense. How much did you know about this industry before signing on to the project and why did you decide it was important to highlight?
Lili Reinhart: I don’t think I really knew what content moderation was. And yet, when I get sent a script, I always read the synopsis right away, and it decides how stoked I am to read the movie. The synopsis said “content moderator,” and for some reason, I guess I knew what that was, and I read the script pretty immediately. The script is written so well by our writer, Matt Nemeth, and I just was sucked in. It’s like a 90 page read, and I was fascinated by the by the concept of that job, because I myself grew up, obviously being exposed to, not the birth of the Internet, but kind of. Going on those websites that you’re not supposed to go on and seeing videos that you’re certainly not supposed to see when you’re 12 years old and your brain is developing. Suddenly you’re seeing the most graphic, violent thing of all time, and then you’re like, “Okay, what do I do with that?” The fact people do that for a living and have to go about their lives at the end of the day, or do it day after day for hours and hours on end, I think people are so fascinated by that concept.
As far as content moderating goes, how much research did you do? Did you talk to people who had worked this job?
When the movie was announced, people reached out to me to say they knew someone who did the job or had done the jobs themselves. But honestly, I didn’t take advantage of talking to those people, mostly because I didn’t want to re traumatize them. Most of these people that were coming forward told me, “I quit that job because it fucked me up so much,” so I didn’t want to be like, “Let’s sit down and talk about it for an hour.” I have an imagination, and I’m an actor, and it’s my job, so I just filled in the pieces on my own. I went off my own experiences. I f*cking see things on the internet that are horrible and I’m like, “Oh, God, I didn’t want to see that,” but suddenly it’s in front of my face. I think we all are, weirdly, content moderators in our own way, just some people are being paid to do it for hours at a time and seeing the absolute worst.
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You’re also a producer on American Sweatshop. What’s that like? Does producing on a movie you’re acting in make it a better experience?
Yes, I enjoy producing. Explaining producing to people is kind of difficult, but I end up saying, “You just get looped in, in a way that actors don’t.” I could walk onto a movie that I’m not a producer on, and just film it and then go home and be like, “Cool, see ya when it’s done.” But I’ve never really been that person. I’m always the very annoying person like, “Let me talk to the director.” I like to be involved. I like to know what’s going on. I like to see the mood boards and be in the conversations beforehand and afterwards. Sometimes you have zero control as an EP, but you’re just being looped in. And I think I know my fan base really well. I know, unfortunately, Tiktok really well. And I’m like, “Here’s where my level of expertise can come in, in terms of helping with XYZ.”
I’m such a fan of Riverdale, and the cast has been doing such interesting things since that wrapped up. How much do you keep in touch and do you watch each other’s new movies?
Oh, totally. I was just texting Mads [Madelaine Petsch] and Cami [Camila Mendes] an hour ago. I texted, KJ [Apa], I just watched The Map That Leads to You. I am friends with Madelyn [Cline] as well. So, yes, I absolutely watch. I can’t fucking wait to see [Mendes’ upcoming film Masters of the Universe featuring] He-Man. Mads just wrapped a movie called Pretty Babies, and The Strangers 2 is coming. Like I know their things. I know their things! I know all the things! So I’m very looped in, and I love seeing what they do. I think it’s so cool that we’re all still friends, but obviously off like little babies leaving the nest, going to do our own little things, but we absolutely still keep in touch and and talk pretty regularly.
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Are you plotting to work together with them on any future projects?
Of course! When you get off of a show like Riverdale, you have to rebuild your identity as an actor a little bit so people can see you in these different lights. So we’re all taking some gracious space away from each other. The second two of us work together again, it’s going to be like, “Betty and whoever,” and so for the sake of our careers and our artistic choices we’re taking space to go off and do our own things, but I think eventually, yeah, of course, I would love to work with any of them again.
This interview was edited and condensed for length and clarity.
American Sweatshop is now playing in theaters and available via video-on-demand.
