‘PH-1’ star says his film could serve as ‘cautionary tale’ for social media-obsessed lawmakers

A writer and film actor who stars as a senator “obsessed with watching himself” on social media says his new thriller could serve as a “cautionary tale” for real-life lawmakers.

In “PH-1,” Mark Kassen plays a fictional independent senator who’s on the verge of passing a water bill.

“He loves his own image. You see him obsessed with watching himself and the likes that he’s getting on whatever the social platforms are,” Kassen says.

“He goes into his office, he turns on the TV and goes through the channels until he finds himself on one of them,” he adds. “He’s just on top of the world.”

That is, until the member of Congress becomes trapped in his luxury penthouse apartment, held hostage by an unseen villain and forced to watch as his online reputation is rapidly torn apart. The movie runs through next month in Washington before being released on Apple TV, Amazon Prime Video and other platforms on May 8.

“Now, the media that he’s obsessed with in the world that he thinks he controls, begins to control him,” Kassen, who directed the film and co-wrote it with Cheryl Guerriero, told ITK.

“The media that is adoring him very quickly begins to enjoy the vitriol in taking him down. And he’s both physically trapped within the building that he’s in, and he’s also then trapped within the media........

© The Hill