Writer/director Sophie Kargman has an auspicious feature debut with Susie Searches. The film stars Kiersey Clemons as Susie Wallace, a small-town college student with a terminally ill mother and failing true-crime podcast. Susie works a minimum wage job at a café with an obnoxious co-worker (Rachel Sennott) and demanding boss (Ken Marino). She also volunteers at the police station where the sheriff (Jim Gafffigan) has a big problem. Jesse (Alex Wolff), a wealthy classmate with a popular YouTube channel, has mysteriously vanished. Susie resolves to find Jesse and boost her social media fame.

Kargman explains that Susie Searches started with “a proof concept short film and screenplay.” She wanted to prove that could “toe the line between satire, dark comedy, and thriller.” Kiersey Clemons, in our interview for the film, heaped praise on Kargman for her extensive preparation and confidence during the shoot. Kargman had a “look-book” with everything from “color palettes” to “lighting schematics” detailed. She wanted her producers, cast, and crew “to feel safe.” Kargman was “willing to do anything” to “elucidate her vision.” She also had nothing but respect, admiration, and love for her lead actress. Kargman had seen all of Clemons’ work. She was “a big fan” and found “her emotional dexterity to be astounding.”

Susie Searches takes an unexpected turn that reframes the protagonist and her motives. Kargman hopes that you “root for Susie in spite of her choices.” The “need and quest for fame” is a “human desire.” How far would someone go to be seen? Kargman thanked her casting director, key grip, and gaffer for their unwavering support. Susie Searches was shot during the height of COVID. The production, originally slated for production in the UK, was delayed twice and moved to upstate New York. They filmed after Thanksgiving and had crew members test positive. Kargman had a “pit in her stomach” from repeated “COVID scares.” They were able to “isolate” and “didn’t have to shut down.” Kargman states that completing the film was a “creative dream come true.” Read on for our full interview.

Sophie Kargman’s Feature Debut

MovieWeb: Talk about adapting Susie Searches from your short to a feature film.

Sophie Kargman: It started with a proof of concept short film and screenplay for the feature. We wanted to go out in tandem. You want to show that we understand the unique twists and turns, toeing the line between satire, dark comedy, and thriller. People are looking for reasons to say no. I wanted to limit that as much as possible, and hopefully get some yeses. I had a look-book as well. If people had any questions, they were answered with the short film and look-book.

Related: Susie Searches Review: Kiersey Clemons Marvels in Sharp Critique of Social Media

MW: I previously spoke with Kiersey about the film. She discussed the initial two-hour Zoom call where you chose her as Susie. Could you please explain why she was the best actress for this role?

Sophie Kargman: Her emotional dexterity is astounding. I’ve been a fan of hers for a really long time. I’ve seen everything she’s done. She’s able to carry films. I love watching and working with her. I didn’t know this at the time. She’s someone who can be laughing and joking. As a director, I’m thinking, she’s got to get it together. We’re about to start shooting. I say action, and she’s just hyper-focused. She’s completely the most prepared person I’ve ever met. She’s a consummate professional. She’s beloved. She’s a dream collaborator. She takes my ideas and elevates them to another level. I really can’t say enough about Kiersey Clemons. I think she’s a star.

Sophie Kargman: She gave me the most interesting takes. This movie was fast. When you’re making an indie film, you don’t have the luxury of time. We were doing three or four takes. That’s it. She nailed it every time. We could spend hours talking about my admiration for this incredible actress.

MW: I really liked the reaction shots, cut scenes, and voiceover narration. Susie realizes that things aren’t going her way. Everything has gotten much worse. Was the distinct look of the film formulated over time, or did you have everything detailed from the start?

Sophie Kargman: Every line talked about getting to that point of having the look of Susie. The movie is sort of this elevated, heightened world. Preparation is paramount. Storyboarding is intrinsic to my process. I broke down everything. The reason is to make people feel safe, whether it be your producer, financiers, cast, or crew. It’s important that people feel like the director knows what he or she is doing. I had a drop box of color palette and lighting schematics. I have a Spotify playlist that I sent out to everyone. Music is a wonderful way to establish tone, especially with a film where you’re balancing dark comedy and thriller aspects. People have different ways of learning or ingesting information. There was nothing that I wasn’t going to do to help elucidate my vision. The difference between a good film and an excellent film comes down to communication.

Kiersey Clemons as Susie Wallace
Vertical

MW: Susie’s willing to do anything for social media fame, likes, and retweets. Given what happens in the film, do you think she’s a likable character? Should the audience empathize with her?

Sophie Kargman: My hope is yes, [that we] elevate a genre film with a detailed character study about her quest for love and validation. That’s a very human desire, especially in this time and space. This need and quest for instant fame. How far would someone go to get an audience? Susie is complicated. We see ourselves in her. If you could achieve your lifelong dream overnight, would you do it? How far would you go to be seen, to be noticed? Film made me a much more compassionate, open, empathetic human. People aren’t good and bad. People are complicated. They’re fallible. Susie wants a better life for her mom. Fame is a means to an end if she can just get her foot in the door. To me, she’s incredibly likable. She’s empathetic in spite of her choices. My hope is that you’re rooting for her in spite of it all.

MW: Let’s spread the wealth to the other characters and supporting cast. Alex Wolff, Ken Marino, and Jim Gaffigan are so good here. They’re not foolish, but kind of entranced by this girl. Talk about getting them on board.

Sophie Kargman: He’s such a superb actor. When Alex said yes to doing Susie, I couldn’t believe it. He is known for these incredible, but dark, heavy, and emotional characters. He is so funny, and yet he’s never played someone that’s sort of light and naive. He took Jesse to another level. He pierced his ear. He came to me with this really weird haircut, but I loved it. I’ve been a fan of Ken and Jim forever. I got very lucky with this cast. Rachel Sennott is astounding. I’ve been a fan of Rachel’s since Shiva Baby.

Sophie Kargman: I can’t speak enough about this cast without mentioning Meredith Tucker, our extraordinary casting director. Meredith cast White Lotus and Eighth Grade. We were very much in step the whole way through. This was an interesting role for Ken. Has the actor ever played a character like this? If yes, then they probably won’t say yes. If no, that’s exciting. You want your actors to be like, “This is exciting. I’ve never done this before.” That’s why I went after them. They have this unbelievable pastiche of wonderful work, but nothing quite like this. That’s why I’m hoping that this would resonate and it did.

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Nerve-Wracking COVID Scares

MW: What’s the best and worst day filming Susie Searches?

Sophie Kargman: This is going to be really cheesy. I mean this with all sincerity. We were shooting in the height of COVID. We had to pause twice. We were going to shoot in the UK, then we moved to upstate New York and eventually Westchester. It was a lot of lows for a while. When we actually got to the first day of set, for lack of a better word, my creative baby was a dream come true. I felt so fortunate that Rob and Adam [Mirels], and Nicki [Smith], said yes to producing and financing Susie Searches. It was a real gift for me to make the movie and get to work with people that I adore. Shout out to my key grip, Rob Styles, and gaffer, Gavin Curran, who were incredible. I had the best f****** crew. I felt so supported and respected. It’s a cheesy answer to say that every day on set was a dream come true.

Sophie Kargman: But in terms of the worst, we had a few COVID scares. That was hard because we shot right before Thanksgiving. Our crew went to see their family. Slowly but surely we had one COVID scare, and then another, and then another. Our sound mixer got COVID. He was laughing with Kiersey every day. That was really scary. Are we going to have to shut down? Kiersey was okay. We pushed through, but there were a few touch and go moments. I would be driving to set. My producer would call with the COVID results from the day before. I was like, oh no, who is it? That pit in my stomach, no one was safe. But we didn’t have to shut down. We were able to isolate. Those few days were nerve-wracking for sure.

Susie Searches is currently available on demand and digital from Vertical.