Erin Brown Thomas is talking from the center with “Chasers,” an official entry in Sundance 2025‘s Episodic Pilot competitors premiering on the pageant in Park Metropolis, Utah later this month. Watch the trailer debut above.
Co-written by the director and lead actress Ciarra Krohne (A24’s “Waves”), this 31-minute one-shot follows a lady named Sophia via a Los Angeles home get together. Evocative of a poppier “Euphoria” with a extra satirical really feel, at the least going by the first-look, what started as a brief movie expanded right into a collection after the screenwriters fell in love with their advanced characters, all navigating near-kaleidoscopic emotion.
The pilot may even display in February as a part of Slamdance 2025 — making it the uncommon “double dance” in a circuit that beforehand prevented competitors in each festivals. “Chasers” goals to ship a vibrant and self-reflective thesis from the filmmaker on the price of paying your dues in an trade relentlessly intent on taking greater than its justifiable share out of your soul and psyche. She says the darkish storytelling universe is partly primarily based on her historical past dwelling amid hustle tradition in LA, but it surely touches on a number of adjoining themes.
“It’s a narrative in regards to the exploitation of hope, wrapped in darkish humor,” Brown Thomas wrote in her private assertion to Sundance (though you possibly can nonetheless watch her sharing information of the movie‘s acceptance on social media.) “Sophia’s journey begins with a manipulation so delicate, she convinces herself that if she will be able to make her abuser her boyfriend, it wasn’t date rape,” Brown Thomas wrote. “Her story would possibly differ from mine, but it surely positively hits dwelling.”
She continued, “Leisure, very like poisonous relationships, loves to decorate up exploitation as alternative, asking us to blur our private strains, chip away at our autonomy, and quit our vulnerabilities on a platter, all within the title of success. Within the post-#MeToo period, ‘Chasers’ attracts some uncomfortable parallels between sexual trauma and the sacrifices demanded by a career-driven tradition.”
Working once more with composers Dan Rufolo and Adam Kromelow — who scored Brown Thomas’ 2023 quick movie “[subtext]” — the director shot the whole thing of pulsing “Chasers” inside her star performer’s home. The forged additionally options Keana Marie (“Weapons Up”), Brooke Maroon (“A Massive Daring Lovely Journey”), Daniel Rashid (“Atlanta”), Xan Churchwell (“Beast Beast”), Shannon Gisela (a comic with the Upright Residents Brigade), and social media influencer Amber Khieralla who’s making her movie debut. Louis Chapman additionally stars.
Trailer modifying by Joe Siebert. Behind-the-scenes images by Leo Evidente III.
You’ll be able to see “Chasers” at Sundance 2025:
The Ray Theatre, Park Metropolis — Premiere on January 28, 2025 4:15 p.m.
Redstone Cinemas, Park Metropolis — January 29 at 6:00 p.m.
Broadway Centre Cinemas, Park Metropolis — January 31 at 12:00 p.m.
Vacation Village Cinemas, Park Metropolis — February 1 at 4:30 p.m.