Ben Hickernell was inspired by a popular podcast called Serial a few years ago. More specifically, the first season, aired in 2014, was the 1999 investigation murder of Hae Min Lee. The young woman’s decaying corpse found in the nearby woods that sparked a national debate on whether the former boyfriend committed the crim.

Using that as the basis, Hickernell wrote the script for What We Found. This film story is not a replication of real-life murder, but it was an inspiration.

In this mystery thriller, a group of friends starts their freshmen year at a tough public high school when their friend Cassie disappears in West Baltimore. With the police unable, or unwilling, to find her, the young friends take it upon themselves to find out what happened to her, undertaking a harrowing journey that will change them all.

The movie stars Jordan Hall, Oona Laurence, James Ranson, Brandon Larracuente, Julian Shatkin, Giorgia Whigham, with Yetide Badaki, and Elizabeth Mitchell.

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LRM Online spoke exclusively with director/writer Ben Hickernell about the film. We discussed using a similar wooded and high school setting near Baltimore for the production and using the young cast in this murder mystery.

Ben Hickernell is an award-winning independent movie director. His first feature film, Lebanon, Pa., premiered at SXSW and won the Best Fiction Film at the Traverse City Film Festival. The second feature film, Backwards, was released theatrically in 2012 by Phase 4 Films. With A Rising Tide, it premiered at the Seattle International Film Festival and currently distributed in over 35 territories around the world.

What We Found is currently available on VOD today.

Watch the exclusive interview below and let us know what you think.

Source: LRM Online Exclusive, Reconstruction Pictures