Roderick Hill and Louisa Krause, center (GoDigital/SeeThink Films)

The outlook on today’s Internet obsessed youth culture is bleak, even terrifying at times, in King Kelly, shot entirely on camera-phones. The film is a descendant of The Blair Witch Project and more recent found-footage movies like Paranormal Activity. While one couldn’t consider King Kelly a horror film, it certainly uses the same techniques, hiding certain images from the audience and relying heavily on reaction shots to develop character. It’s horrifying in its own way as the audience is forced to witness the spiraling chaos  caused by the title character and her camera.

The life of King Kelly (Louisa Krause), an aspiring young Internet star, revolves around recording videos to upload onto the Internet, both for profit and entertainment. She currently shoots sexually explicit videos for a website, but is in the process of setting up her own private site with the help of her best friend, Jordan (Libby Woodbridge). She also posts a video of her ex-boyfriend Ryan (Will Brill) heatedly taking back his car from her and the argument that follows. Despite Kelly’s anger towards Ryan (she’s adamant that the car is actually hers), she takes a moment to admire the “realness” she has caught on her cell phone camera: “It’s an awesome video.” When Ryan takes back the car on the Fourth of the July, Kelly finds herself in more trouble than simply being stuck without a ride—she had illegal drugs in the trunk of the car that she was supposed to deliver.

Now under pressure from drug dealers, Kelly spends her holiday in a drug and sex filled journey to find Ryan and the vehicle, while simultaneously concerned about getting it all on camera. Things are only complicated more when Kelly seeks help from one of her biggest online admirers, a state trooper (Roderick Hill). In between the insane events of the day, Kelly takes time to work out new material for her website. Incredibly self-indulgent, Kelly seems only half-aware of the amount of trouble she’s caused herself and her friends. She creates a scene at her family’s barbeque, gets intimate with Jordan’s boyfriend, and torments Ryan.

No character is this film comes off particularly likable. Krause commits to making Kelly a completely annoying and contemptible individual, with only brief moments of her rethinking her current lifestyle choices. It unfortunately doesn’t make her or her friends easy to watch. Kelly and Jordan’s concern for getting their actions on camera becomes less satirical and more alarming as the film progresses. This seems to be the film’s intention as King Kelly escalates to a disturbing, and ultimately violent, end.

In some ways, director and co-writer Andrew Neel could have explored the Internet commentary further. Towards the beginning of King Kelly, Kelly is seen filming her dog, Prince, around the house. The flip side of Kelly’s sexually explicit online world is the posting of cute animals and funny at-home happenings. It would have been more provocative to see this clear juxtaposition taken further, but the film quickly leaves any innocence behind for a depressing, yet effective, exposé on cyber sensations.