Chasers is a 30-minute, single-shot short set in an LA house party full of Gen Z-ers looking to hook up, drop out, and simply dance the night away. Working as a TV pilot, Chasers is masterfully shot and wonderfully cast. Yet the narrative coasts a little too easily. The influx of characters with their Instagram-timestamped values relegates those moments of the true pursuance of dreams into dill-pickle vaped frivolity.

 

Written and directed by Erin Brown Thomas, Chasers immediately drops the viewer into an LA party full of beautiful youth, exasperating boasts, and a lacking amount of alcohol. Thomas’ camera, and initial plot, follows the young musician Sophia (Ciarra Krohne) who wants to hook up with Jacob (Louie Chapman), and hopefully bring him along as her plus-one for her sister’s wedding. The camera is fluid taking Sophia, and the viewer, in and out of the house and the lives of her friends. Some of their stories are deeply relevant and timeless in nature; others are too flighty and detrimentally pertinent to a particular age group. 

 

With Chasers, Thomas sets the stage with a tale of blatant distraction, youthful indecision, and self-reflection, concluding with a, why not, full-on dance number. Yet the night-of-the-party story is a trope that was already cliche back when the Donger crashed at Jake’s house. Not much has changed since then. This story is firmly set in the modern generation, and while the party itself is tamer than anything back in the day of Gen X, Thomas shows the dark side of potential and obtaining dreams. Unfortunately that comes too late in the show. 

 

Krohne’s Sophia (who co-wrote the story with Thomas) has a secret that slowly - a little too slowly - bubbles up as her main wishes are dashed away. Other party goers share similar dreams and equal disappointments: Amber Khieralla’s acting, Shannon Gisela’s social numbers, and Dexter Farren Haag’s spontaneity. A world is being built, yet instead of organic growth into the narrative, Chasers feels like a party where you don’t know anyone and the introductions all feel hollow. That unease continues once Sophia’s plight is fully revealed.

 

Erin Brown Thomas captures a distinct time and feel of the here-and-now. Her pulse beats with this energy as she has crafted a window into Gen Z anxiety. Older generations, however, might not subscribe to this view and see it merely as fleeting nostalgia or the folly of youth.
 

Be sure to catch Chasers – and many other indie projects – over at Slamdance.