American Sweatshop ending explained: Did Daisy find the culprit?

American Sweatshop is a 2025 mystery thriller film directed by Uta Briesewitz and written by Matthew Nemeth. Starring Lili Reinhart as Daisy Moriarty, the movie follows a social media content moderator whose job exposes her to the darkest corners of the web.

Premiering at the South by Southwest Film & TV Festival earlier this year, the film has sparked controversy over its creepy conclusion and the future of its main character.

More than just a crime thriller, the movie presents a disturbing vision of the psychological toll of hosting violent content online. Daisy's journey begins with one chilling video she can't erase, leading her into a descent of obsession, gray morality, and ultimately, a jaw-dropping final twist.

Viewers are left wondering the same thing: did Daisy ever actually find the guy behind it all, or did her quest destroy her completely?

In the end, Daisy does find the man from the video, but the ending suggests she is consumed by vengeance rather than peace.

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What happened with Daisy in American Sweatshop?

In American Sweatshop, Daisy spends long hours filtering violent content on the internet, but one video unsettles her more than any other: a woman being brutally impaled with a nail.

Tormented by the sound and vision, Daisy reports it to her managers and even to the police, who brush it off. Feeling she has nowhere else to turn, she takes matters into her own hands.

Her first try goes awry. Upon posting the video to a bulletin board, one commentator provides her with the alleged address of the man on tape. Daisy drives for hours to confront him, discovering she has been lured into attacking the wrong individual. In place of answers, she finds a new trauma, evidence that cruelty is following her even beyond the workplace.

Nonetheless, Daisy continues and contacts Klipspringer Films, the team responsible for the horrific clip, feigning interest in acting in their future productions.

When she arrives to meet them, she spots a man with the same boots as the guy in the torture scene. Although she attacks him and breaks the set materials, the exchange fails to put an end to her suffering. Daisy walks off, but the video memory continues to gnaw at her.

Her own life disintegrates in tandem. She fires off at those around her, intimidates her boyfriend, and ignores her neighbor's child in pursuit of leads. Even when she attempts to get on with it, studying for nursing exams and working for a soup kitchen, the internet continually draws her back.

A new video is discovered by one of her colleagues: Daisy herself attacking a bartender, which has gone viral in the same manner as the torture video did. Daisy becomes an unwilling victim and participant alike in the same cycle of violence on the internet.

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Did Daisy catch the perpetrator in American Sweatshop?

American Sweatshop (Image via Brainstorm Media)

The final act of American Sweatshop places the audience in an intensely uncomfortable place. Daisy passes her nursing exams and arrives at what appears to be an interview for a new beginning.

Throughout the exchange, she admits to a conviction that sometimes the only way to stop a bad thing is another bad thing. Her words disturb the interviewer until the camera discloses him as the same man whose face has terrorized her since the opening scene.

It's a heartbreaking turn of events. For the entire movie, Daisy's been searching, and she finally meets up with the guy in the video. The news, however, does not lead to a resolution.

Rather, her half-hearted smile into the camera implies that she's been preparing for this moment throughout and possibly has even more sinister motives behind her actions than people anticipated. Earlier, Daisy had confessed that she only desired to see him in her eyes to have peace.

The conclusion suggests she now has the opportunity, but peace is not what she seeks.

American Sweatshop ends in uncertainty. Daisy locates the villain, but triumph is hollow. The movie leaves viewers guessing whether she will find her revenge, keep plummeting towards violence, or get stuck forever in the same terrible cycle that she went out to end.

It's a finale that echoes the bigger message of the film: when you look too long into the darkest parts of the internet, those abominations have a tendency to look back at you.

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American Sweatshop was released in theaters on September 19, 2025.