The Ego Death of Queen Cecilia

A feature-length crime thriller written by Chris Beier and Daniel Wolfman, directed by Chris Beier and starring Jo Schaeffer, Sam Stinton, Akasha Banks Villalobos and Holt Boggs.

Cecilia (Schaeffer) is a former YouTube celebrity living in Texas. With her online career having gone downhill, in order to make ends meet, she now works as a delivery driver and is determined to revive her career. Having been in contact with an organisation that specialises in getting people's businesses back on track, she needs to raise a large sum of money in order to pay for the company's fee. To do that, she decides to blackmail Brad (Stinson), a former classmate who is now a drug dealer. However, things do not go in her favor.

This film has an intriguing plot, interesting characters, suspense, desperation and nail-biting moments. The concept is a troubled individual attempting to make their life better and ending up in a heap of trouble, entering a world of criminals, blackmail, drugs and murder. Black-and-white flashbacks provide information regarding her past glory days and her acquaintance with Brad and the atmospheric and suspenseful music by Beier and Ryan Montavlo adds to the experience.

The story comes to a slow start and it is not until the blackmail begins that things really start to pick up. This does not mean that everything prior to that is no good, as Cecilia's character and circumstances are well-explored during the first third of the film. Another element that some viewers might find negative, or perhaps puzzling, is the appearance of ants. There are several shots throughout the feature where ants are present. Ostensibly, the presence of ants symbolizes something, probalby regarding the story or Cecilia. This is just speculation, however, if the ants do represent certain things, then what could they be? It is not clear.

As the main protagonist, Cecilia is more of an anti-heroine, a self-centred, quick-tempered, fame-hungry, dishonest and even criminal individual, who (among other things) tends to steal the parcels that are to be delivered. She is basically a loner who is willing to do pretty much anything in order to get what she wants and she is played brilliantly by Schaeffer. Stinson's character is a ruthless drug dealer, who is overshadowed by Matthew, played quite menacingly by Boggs. Villalobos plays the part of Abbey, Cecilia's estranged sister and perhaps the only main character who is an honest person.

This is a story that involves blackmail, cybercrime and drug trafficking. Additionally, it also explores the world of online celebrities and people's desire to be famous.

A crime thriller that keeps the viewer in suspense, taking them on a dark journey filled with danger. Overall, this feature offers an interesting story that is also thought-provoking.