Parents' Guide to American Sweatshop

The plot of this thriller isn't very thrilling, but the situation and characters, and the ways in which the problematic internet content affects them, are enough to give this a look. American Sweatshop probably needed more dramatic thrust, and it probably could have done better, story-wise, than Daisy stalking the cruel video maker (and, in the process, becoming something of a monster herself), but as a skeleton upon which to hang the rest of the movie, it's acceptable. That said, it's the scenes in the Paladin office that stand out. Screenwriter Matthew Nemeth and director Uta Briesewitz create an eerily vivid environment: It's sterile and corporate, with just a hint of fearsome oppression in the form of the stern German boss, who's ironically named "Joy" (Christiane Paul). There's a "Tranquility Room," where workers can take a nine-minute break and scream at the walls or mold with Play-Doh, and an on-staff therapist who reminds visitors that they can't talk about personal stuff, only work stuff.

Watching the characters struggle between boredom and revulsion feels sickeningly realistic. The awful things they see seem to stick to them, becoming a weight they can't drop and an odor that they can't wash off. In one powerful scene, Paul watches a video involving a dog being hurt (the videos aren't shown, only heard or described) and then races home to check on his own dog, breaking down in tears when his furry friend meets him at the door. There's arguably a better movie somewhere inside American Sweatshop that could have more effectively tackled our internet video problem, but it's a good start.