When a student journalist discovers evidence that could expose one of the country’s most popular news outlets as a fraud, the station puts her dad in its crosshairs and she must decide whether breaking the story is worth the risk of permanent damage to her family.

SYNOPSIS:

Jo Patnode, 19, community college student and world-weary daughter of rural poverty, nails a round of darts during an early-morning study session. When a string of unmarked vehicles speeds toward their house, she quickly bolts the front door and otherwise tries to stop them, but the FBI agent storm in, and haul her dad away. Mathieu had been among the protesters at the Capitol on January 6th.

With Mat in custody, Jo struggles to focus. To the dismay of her partner Nic, their old friend (and Jo’s former romantic interest) Shon invites Jo to visit NYC, sealing the deal with the news that her indie cleaning crew has a gig in the same building as Looks News HQ. With somewhat horrified curiosity, Jo boards a bus to New York. An ill team member creates an opening and suddenly Jo is in close proximity to her arch enemy, soon finding her way into their offices.

She overhears the CEO’s nephew Blake bragging about Looks being in the influence business. She takes this ‘hot tip’, to the City Times, her long-revered source, and is mostly rebuffed. She surreptitiously snoops around the Looks offices. On a tip, Jo travels to CEO Ray Murphy’s Southampton estate, where she breaks into a locked space revealing a hidden operation devoted to funding and planning Looks’ manipulation of the news, including the Jan 6th events.

The Times now begins an investigation, with Jo assisting. Suspicious, Shon cuts her from the crew. Locked out, Jo ‘borrows’ Shon’s badge to get back into the building for research, and drops it as she is chased out by Blake, who pursues and threatens Shon. Jo rescues Shon with her darts but Shon furiously throws Jo out on the street.

As part of a release deal, Mathieu consents to a monitor on his phone. Looks connects Jo to the break-in and begins a smear campaign on her dad, labelling him a government collaborator and informant. Her parents flee to a cabin in the woods.

Along her journey, Jo has begun to realize that the media she had placed on a pedestal has failed to connect with her people, dismissing them as dumb. She calls out The Times for remaining comfortable in their own echo chamber, and accuses them of delivering Ray’s audience to him through their own arrogance.

Through Shon’s teachings, Jo decides to control her response to the situation. She quits the investigation in hopes Looks will cease harassing Mat. The Times is hot on the story, envisioning major awards, and suggests she could be arrested for the break-in and have no legal team.

As Jo boards a bus out of town, Nic shows up to check on their frayed relationship. They decide to leave together, peacefully. Meanwhile, Blake drags Shon into his uncle’s office as evidence of his loyalty. Ray, exasperated, lectures him about the reasons for the station’s success. His live mic captures the self-incriminating rant for the in-studio crew, one of whom seizes the moment to flip a switch and send the comments live to broadcast. The world reverberates with the very public confessions of a master manipulator, facilitated by a friend Jo has made along her way. Jo and Nic take this in as Looks News plays on the seatback screens of the bus they ride back to their upstate home.

UPSTATE GIRL