Running from the Spotlight
Genre: Drama/Teen
Director: Michael Fimognari
Writer: Jacob Jones
Cast: Kylie Cantrall, Malia Baker, Sadie Munroe, Michela Luci, Isaac Arellanes, Peter Krause, Priah Ferguson, Orli Gottesman
Plot: Inside Albany Prestige High School, as classes are making their way out for the night, an aging acting teacher (Peter Krause) is doing a quick headcount, wondering where his prized pupil is.
The door swings open, revealing the ever-stylish and perky Maria (Kylie Cantrall), excited to be starting another day with the acting troupe, all of whom greet her with much pomp and circumstance, particularly her girlfriend Emily (Sadie Munroe), who gives her a kiss on the nose.
The next hour or so sees Maria helping other students out with warmups, line memorization and vocal training, helping ease the strain for Mr. Herrick. At the end of class, he announces that tomorrow, they will be holding auditions for their Spring play, Peter Pan, inviting anyone who is interested to participate. As Maria and Emily make their way out of the room, they express excitement over the musical.
“Hey, you’re not the only ones that are excited.”
Maria looks around, finding Thalia (Malia Baker), one of her theater friends. Thalia is looking for to the musical as this will be the last for many seniors, including Maria. The three reminisce on past high school memories before Thalia asks Maria and Emily if they want to hang out after auditions. Maria would love to, even offering to give everyone tips if they get cast.
The three friends head their separate ways, Maria making her way home and entering her room to practice singing. She glances at her phone, revealing the story of her high school acting career. Most notably, Maria has been the lead in every play Albany Prestige High has held. Maria resumes practicing, hitting a particularly high note with ease.
The next day, Maria and Thalia meet up at a local park, finding Emily with Solomon (Isaac Arellanes) and Jessica (Michela Luci). All seems normal, even as there are slight tensions between Maria and Jessica. Their time together is disrupted when Maria realizes that auditions for Peter Pan are coming up soon, dragging Thalia and Emily with her.
At school, Mr. Herrick sits at his desk, staring at the alarm clock when Maria arrives with Thalia and Emily, all set for the audition. As the three reveal what parts they wish to go after, Thalia let’s slip that she wants the role of Peter Pan (though any role is fine). Maria freezes up, showing discomfort as Thalia belts out “You Can Fly”, only for Maria to do the same thing. Mr. Herrick dismisses the three, letting them know that he’ll make his decision tomorrow.
As Thalia and Maria part ways, Emily catches up with her girlfriend, asking if she heard how Thalia sounded. Maria is impressed, but is still confident that the role of Peter Pan is her’s. Emily pauses, unsure how to word it before claiming that Mr. Herrick might be looking for someone “new” in the Peter Pan role, suggesting that Thalia might be the one.
Maria dismisses the rumors, claiming that she is the star of the club. Mr. Herrick knows this, and tomorrow, when that cast list comes out, everyone will see her name on top. Maria sashays off, leaving Emily concerned.
The next day, Maria enters the school, finding a group of student whispering to one another. Maria cuts through, wanting to see what the fuss is, finding the cast list for Peter Pan.
Peter Pan- Thalia
Wendy- Emily
Captain Hook- Maria
Mr. Snee- Solomon
Tinker Bell- Alice
Maria looks on, stunned that her perfect record has been broken before seeing Thalia get mobbed by others students. All throughout the day, Maria has trouble focusing on anything, still stuck on Thalia’s big break, culminating in a surprisingly muted day for Maria in drama club.
As drama club lets out, Maria stays inside, asking Mr. Herrick why she didn’t get the lead of Peter Pan. Herrick explains that while Maria has been a phenomenal actress, with this being her final play, he figured the time had come to pass the torch to someone new, that being Thalia. Maria understands, promising to do the job well.
That evening, Maria lies in bed, having her first nightmare, the intrusive thoughts in her mind conjuring a false picture that shows Thalia taking the role Maria once filled, leaving her irrelevant. Maria wakes up from her dream, writing out a panicked text to Emily, begging not to forget her, even after all she’s done.
Thalia and Solomon walk together to class when they find Emily running through the hallways, trying to find Maria. When they come across Maria, Emily gives her a hug, rambling about how worried she was. Maria assures them that she’s fine and just needed to vent.
Maria then sees Thalia and lavishes her with compliments until the bell rings. Thalia and Emily head off, both confused yet relieved. Throughout the next few days, however, Maria proceeds to be exceedingly nice to Thalia, giving her gifts and adulation all while Jessica looks on, suspicious.
One night, however, Maria receives another nightmare, this time about a great scandal emerging and her name being disgraced. She is shunned and lambasted by everyone she comes across, including Mr. Herrick.
After waking from her nightmare, a frantic Maria grabs onto her phone and calls Thalia. In her room, Irritated, Thalia asks Maria what she wants at 3 in the morning, becoming confused when Maria asks what she thinks of her.
Maria goes on, spilling her insecurities to Thalia all while beating herself up for mistakes she made. Some days, she feels more like a liability, to herself and everyone. Maria asks why Thalia still puts up with her.
Unsure how to take it, Thalia tells Maria that in her core, she’s a good person who wants what’s best for everyone and that those mistakes, whatever they may be, are inconsequential to the good she’s brought to others. Concerned, Thalia asks Maria if she’s doing okay mentally, suggesting she talk to Jessica about—
Maria rejects the offer, before backtracking, claiming that they’ve talked before and it didn’t work out. Regardless, Thalia still suggests Maria see someone, worried about how low her self-esteem is.
Solomon and Emily sit together in the cafeteria when Thalia steps inside, yawning as she makes her introduction. She’s still a bit tired from the surprise call Maria gave her. Solomon isn’t surprised, but before he can comment further, the group hear shouting not far from their table.
Solomon looks over and finds Maria and Jessica arguing with one another, another student stepping in between them to avoid escalation. Maria storms off, dramatically flipping her hair back in a huff. Solomon and Emily go to check on Jessica, who is still shaken up, while Thalia watches on, confused.
That afternoon, Thalia receives a text from Maria who claims that Jessica accused her of things she didn’t do in her usual “patronizing” self, claiming that she leaves the drama behind. When Thalia tries to ask her what happened, however, Maria remains vague. A few hours later, Thalia receives another text from Jessica, asking if she can stop by her house tomorrow.
Emily calls Maria on the phone, enjoying their time together until she asks Maria what happened between her and Jessica. Maria repeats the story she told Thalia, painting herself as the good girl. Emily is confused, stating that Jessica wouldn’t go out of her way to accuse anyone without concrete evidence. Maria remains indignant, convinced that Jessica is trying to manipulate people to believe the wrong thing, especially when it comes to—
Maria stops herself from getting carried away, opting to get off for the night. Emily is confused and once again, concerned.
That evening, Maria tries to get some sleep, but is confronted with another nightmare, this time detailing more of her past with vivid imagery. This pictures Maria as a benevolent queen being torn asunder by her peers, all while a witch version of Jessica cackles, Thalia and Solomon by her side as Maria falls into a cesspool of deceit and lies.
Upon entering Jessica’s room, Thalia finds Jessica with Solomon debating the state of women’s right in the Middle East when Jessica welcomes Thalia in. During their conversation, Thalia admits that she’s still new to Albany, having just moved from Illinois a year ago so she’s not aware of all that’s gone on between Jessica and Maria.
Jessica reveals that a year ago, there was an incident between Maria and Lizzy (Priah Ferguson), a girl who used to be a part of the Albany High Theatre Club. A kindhearted girl with a love for theater, Lizzy represented Maria’s first true threat. Especially when Lizzy got the lead role of a play. At first, Maria tried coaxing Lizzy, befriending her and lavishing her with all these gifts. When that didn’t work, however, Maria got Emily to plant a horrifying secret about Lizzy.
Thalia is stunned, completely unaware of all that happened, Jessica tries to be sympathetic, only for her parents to call her downstairs. When Jessica leaves, Solomon steps up, saying that Jessica had a personal stake in the manner, being close friends with Emily and Lizzy. It’s a big reason why Jessica hates Maria. He finds the matter sad as the two used to be good friends. Despite this, he advises Thalia not to take Jessica’s word as gospel and encourages her to do her own research.
Emily rides her bike across town when she comes across Lizzy watering her garden. Upon seeing Emily, Lizzy asks Emily why she’s so happy to see her. Emily stammers, trying to explain herself but Lizzy says that it’s too late. They was supposed to be her friends and they ruined her. But it’s fine. Karma will come around someday.
Thalia paces back and forth in her room when she hears her phone going off with texts from Maria asking Thalia if she’s heard anything. Thalia admits to hearing conflicting thoughts on an incident involving her and another girl. Maria goes silent before returning to call.
Maria claims that she wanted to support Lizzy but then rumors got out that Lizzy only got the job from sleeping with Mr. Herrick. When Maria heard, she tried to defend Lizzy but she outright screamed at her and Emily. Then she told Jessica and well…
Thalia expresses her sympathy to Maria, Maria thanks Thalia for her support, vowing that she has her backing as lead. Thalia gets off the phone, having now heard two differing takes on the situation.
The next day after school, the Albany High theater club reads their scripts for the musical. All appears normal between the group, but when Mr. Herrick schedules a break period, Maria comes up to Thalia to offer critique on how she should deliver her lines. Thalia assures Maria that she’s got this. Despite this, Maria remains persistent, trying to give feedback whenever possible, even when it’s not necessary. This culminates in Alice (Orli Gottesman) telling Maria off, forcing Emily and Mr. Herrick to step in.
Maria comes up to Thalia, apologizing for her part, assuring her that she’s only trying to help. Thalia understands but vows that she knows what she’s doing. Any great actress knows what they’re doing and well, that’s how she got the role. Thalia walks away, unaware that she rubbed Maria off the wrong way.
Emily practices her lines for Wendy before hearing her phone ring. Upon picking up, Maria rants about how Thalia blew her off. Emily does admit that Maria was doing it at inappropriate times, but backtracks, saying she’s doing it for a just cause. Maria hints that maybe Thalia isn’t ready for the spotlight, cause Emily to fly into a panic.
Maria reassures Emily, stating that Thalia will be fine. It’s one bad night, everyone has those. She ends the call by reminding Emily that she’ll always have her best interests in her heart. Emily collapses onto bed, finding on Twitter that Lizzy is lamenting how broken she is and how nothing she does is good enough. Rhetoric similar to that of Maria. She texts Jessica, asking her if they can talk tomorrow.
Solomon smokes a weed blunt when he gets a phone call from Maria. The two chat for a bit before Maria brings up what happened in acting club. Solomon thinks about how to respond and asks if she feels she did the right thing. Maria avoids the question at first, only to confess that she’s not sure, starting to wonder if the world is crashing down around her.
Solomon suggests that Maria is fine, but implies that maybe her gifts and affirmation are a front for something more sinister. Maria goes on the defensive, claiming no such thing will occur, only for Solomon to let out a cackle, telling Maria to lighten up. He knows the whole thing was a misunderstanding. Maria is relieved.
The next day, Emily paces around the room, when Jessica opens the door. The two sit in the bed, Emily freaking out about the conversation she had with Maria. She’s afraid that Maria may be about to do something bad to Thalia. Throughout this conversation, it’s revealed that Emily and Thalia have been friends since middle school, both coming from Illinois and that she was responsible for Thalia and Maria becoming friends. Jessica, having had to deal with this song and dance for months now, bluntly asks Emily when she’s going to stand up for her friends and herself.
During school, Thalia wanders throughout the hallways when she comes across a figure, softly crying to herself. She hesitantly approaches them, introducing herself, only to be shocked when she finds Lizzy. She asks Thalia if she’s out to ‘get her’. Thalia is confused but assures that she’s fine. Is Lizzy fine, however?
To Thalia’s surprise, Lizzy lets out a massive rant, claiming that she’s constantly paranoid and thinks everyone hates her guts, blaming it all on Maria. Taken aback, Thalia asks what’s going on.
Lizzy apologizes before revealing what she thinks is the truth: Last semester, Lizzy moved to Albany after her parents found new jobs in New York. A life-long fan of the arts, Lizzy gravitated towards acting and performance, working her way towards the Albany High theater troupe and finding rapport with Mr. Herrick, to a point where she was going to be the lead of their spring play.
Maria resented this, often lavishing gifts and compliments before switching her strategy to obnoxiously constructive feedback. When all else failed, Maria got her sycophant Emily to spread the rumor that she was sleeping with Mr. Herrick. She was labeled so many horrible things, and the scandal caused Herrick to take a leave of absence and destroyed her reputation so badly that she quit acting all together.
With tears in her eyes, Lizzy admits that she really wanted to be Maria’s friend, but she betrayed her trust…
“I DID NO SUCH THING!”
Maria storms up to Lizzy, accusing her of lying. Alarmed, Thalia tries to break up the conflict before Emily steps in. Maria tries to get Emily to tell Lizzy the truth, only for Emily to tell Maria (though not very convincingly) that she should let Lizzy be.
Maria lets it slide, only because Emily spoke up, leaving Thalia and Lizzy confused. Over the next few days, Emily continues to speak up against Maria's transgressions, slowly becoming more confident in her voice. Mr. Herrick takes note of this, giving her props after class. Maria comes up to Emily, asking if they were still up for their date this weekend. Emily thinks so, but she does have a few errands to take care of.
Suspicious, Maria sneaks over to Emily’s house, finding to her shock that Jessica and Emily are on speaking terms. Jessica claims to be an innocent party, but Maria believes she’s trying to turn Emily against her. The two argue for a bit before Jessica accuses Maria of not actually loving Emily, causing Maria to go in a passionate defense of their relationship.
Emily thinks for a moment and stands up, staring at Maria. She loves Maria, but the way she’s been acting has made her seriously uncomfortable. She’s manipulated, gaslit and gone after others for not getting what she wants, and now she’s doing the same thing to Thalia. A hint of remorse comes as Emily reminds Maria of all the good things she’s done, but declares that they’re going on break until the matter is resolved.
Maria appears to understand, only to break into hysterics upon returning home, destroying anything that reminds her of Emily until she comes across a heart shaped pillow Emily sewed for her. She falls on her knees and breaks into tears.
Thalia arrives at the acting troupe the next day, finding that Maria is nowhere to be seen. When she does arrive, it’s clear she’s an absolute mess. Several students express concern, but a few use the opportunity to poke. As the day goes on, it becomes clear that the tide has changed with students becoming more snippy towards Maria. It gets to a point where Thalia lambasts m the gang. She knows Maria has been through a lot as of late but that there’s no excuse to act like gossipy children.
After class, Alice pulls Thalia aside, asking if she talked to Lizzy. Thalia says she did, she heard a lot about the Maria situation. Alice then slips her an invite to a Discord server so they can further discuss.
Upon leaving class, Thalia comes across Maria who thanks her for coming to her defense. Thalia mentions that she didn’t do such a thing. If anything, she’s getting tired of being corrected and having to deal with this nonsense. Thalia steps out of the way, heading home and leaving Maria in shock.
That evening, Maria sits on her bed, writing in her diary, expressing relief that Thalia is still on her side, glad to have at least one friend…yet the urge to be the star of the club still burns inside her…maybe…no, she shouldn’t…
..:or should she?
Thalia enters the server, conducting an interview with the students, being bombarded with horror stories and defenses regarding Maria’s character. Thalia, no longer sure what to think, thanks everyone for the time and logs off. Little did they know, there was an anonymous account that snuck through the cracks, recording their every word…
That evening, Thalia has a dream about being a judge in court, listening to lawyer Alice testify against Maria. She appears unsure on the verdict until finally, she hears from Solomon, reminding her to believe what she thinks is best.
The next day, however, as Thalia makes her way down the hallways, she is greeted with people whispering about her and is called into the principal’s office. There, she finds the principal with Mr. Herrick, being interrogated about a cyberbullying server regarding Maria. Thalia refutes the claim, asking how they’d know. Mr. Herrick steps forward, saying that he received the information from an anonymous source before suspending Thalia from the theater club until further notice.
As if things couldn’t get worse, as Thalia steps out, she comes across the sight of Lizzy having a complete mental breakdown, accusing everyone of being against her as Jessica tries to calm her down before school officers step in. It’s at that point Thalia eyes Maria, her eyes frozen as she watches it all play out.
When Thalia asks Maria about it, she bolts, causing Thalia to lead a chase for the actress, Solomon, Emily and Jessica following suit. They run all over the school before finally Thalia corners Maria. With nowhere to run, Maria grovels in desperation, only for Thalia to remain calm, stating that she wants to know.
“Did you tell Emily to spread that rumor about Lizzy?”
Maria struggles for a moment before admitting to the crime, confessing to feeling sick about doing it herself, pressuring Emily to do so instead. Disappointed, Thalia tells Maria that she had no right to spread these rumors, and for what? Being the star of a dumb play? Maria muttered under her breath that she almost got away with her. When confronted, Maria reveals that she heard Thalia and the theater club talk behind her back and that she confirmed her suspicions. Thalia was out to get her, just like everyone else.
Thalia tries to explain herself, wanting to listen to every side in the matter, but Maria is heated, claiming that she trusted Thalia and she stuck a knife in her back. But then, maybe Thalia shouldn’t have been trusted. After all, Thalia was bragging about how she was nailing her role.
Thalia apologizes but tells Maria she was still in the wrong for what she did before asking a serious question: How many people has Maria done this to? With a group now surrounding them and seeing no escape, Maria confesses to having manipulated and sabotaged countless other actors not just in theater club but in community theater.
Furious, Thalia eviscerates Maria for her actions, ready to terminate her friendship when Maria screams that she’s a victim of this too. Surprisingly enough, Jessica steps up to the plate, asking Maria for more information.
In flashbacks, we learn that when Maria was starting out, she was placed in the lead actress role for a play. This didn’t sit well with one of the actors, and behind the scenes, they built a case against her, revealing their true colors when the time was right. After that day, Maria vowed never to let this happen again, embracing the tactics that got her in this situation in the first place.
Maria cracks, revealing every detail about herself. How she constantly has nightmares about herself and her friends and fears everyone is out to get her and yet still does these horrible things because she feels obligated to be the star. She didn’t realize how badly she had ruined Lizzy until today and now, she’s screwed Thalia. She breaks into tears, calling herself a monster.
“No you’re not.”
Thalia steps forward, coming up to the broken Maria, telling her that she helped her so much when she first joined the theater club, showing her how everything worked and the fun activities they did during break periods. Solomon comes forth, restating that Maria was always good to her. Emily comes next, calling Maria the sweetest person in the world when it comes to her.
Jessica is last, admitting that she’s been harsh on Maria, but for a good cause. Maria has been hurt by others and created a foundation of distrust which has hurt those she’s close to. But it’s clear there is a good person deep in her core. She just needs help. Maria asks for them to help her, everyone accepting this request with a hug.
Several weeks later:
Thalia stands on stage, dressed as Peter Pan, having the time of her life as she fights Captain Hook, played by Lizzy. In the end, Thalia comes away victorious and the play ends with a standing ovation from the crowd. As the crowd heads out, the group is surprised to find Maria with a big bouquet of flowers for everyone, congratulating them on the show. Solomon, Thalia and Emily step aside, letting Thalia, Lizzy and Maria speak.
Maria proceeds to apologize for everything that happened, saying that therapy has been helping, thanking Lizzy for jumping in at the last second. Lizzy admits that it’s been hard trying to forgive others but after seeing Maria try, she figured she’d do the same. She hated feeling so miserable.
Thalia watches on, smiling as the two embrace, briefly stating the moral of the story:
Everybody’s gotta change for themselves, even when they don’t realize it.
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