The Plague Review: A chilling look at adolescent bullying and a stellar directorial debut

Plot: A socially awkward tween endures the ruthless hierarchy at a water polo camp, his nervousness spiraling into psychological turmoil over the summer time.

Overview: Being a child could be robust, no matter gender or nationality. Of all of the ages that appear to have probably the most issue, center schoolers are probably the most tough. Caught between elementary and highschool with roiling hormones and burgeoning independence, tweens exist at a crossroads in life that has grow to be exponentially tougher within the age of social media. However, even earlier than cell telephones and on-line entry, pre-teens suffered by the hands of rumors and bullying. Charlie Polinger’s directorial debut, The Plague, presents a horrifying portrait of the stress and trauma that transforms a specific child in only a matter of days. It is likely one of the most affecting movies I’ve seen in years, and it additionally serves as a fantastically filmed introduction to a filmmaker value watching sooner or later. The Plague just isn’t a conventional horror film, however it is likely one of the scariest movies of the yr.

Set in 2003, earlier than cellular units reworked the way in which youngsters talk, The Plague is ready at an all-boys water polo camp. Ben (Everett Blunck) is a nervous and awkward twelve-year-old arriving on the camp after transferring from Boston together with his lately divorced mom. When Ben arrives, the children have already separated into cliques. Ben instantly gravitates in direction of Jake (Kayo Martin), who’s the de facto chief of the favored youngsters and a veteran of the earlier camp session. Immediately, Ben is branded with a mocking nickname, however he overlooks the teasing to strive to stick with the group. That’s when he notices the children, led by Jake, ostracizing one other camper named Eli (Kenny Rasmussen). The boys dramatically draw back from Eli and depart his neighborhood when he tries to take a seat with them. When Ben asks why they do that, Jake tells him that Eli has “the plague”. Jake tells a narrative from the prior session that Eli contracted it from one other camper to account for the rash seen throughout Eli’s physique. Whereas doubting that it truly is an infectious illness, Ben is nonetheless cautious round Eli.

The rumor of Eli’s plague standing is not any completely different from many people who’ve both been victims or perpetrators of spreading it once we have been twelve and 13. Seeing it realized in a movie like this makes it all of the tougher to justify our participation in bullying or being bullied once we have been youthful. Charlie Polinger by no means outright says it, however he signifies that Eli could also be autistic, as evidenced by his hyperfocus on particular topics, social awkwardness, and a common sense of being completely different, one thing Jake properties in on and makes use of to excuse his personal internal challenges. Caught within the center, Ben struggles with whether or not he needs to be accepted by the group badly sufficient or get to know Eli higher. Each resolution that Ben makes is met with a right away response that begins to put on his personal psychological well-being down and has him questioning whether or not he could have the plague as properly. It’s a scary journey to see how brutal Jake and his cabal could be to Ben and Eli, in addition to how a lot each boys are prepared to take for the sake of not rocking the boat.

There is just one grownup within the forged of The Plague. Joel Edgerton, who produced the movie, performs water polo coach Daddy Wags, who tries to forge a bond with Ben. Edgerton performs his character as an understanding determine who went by way of an analogous expertise when he was a toddler, however fails to see simply how dangerous issues are getting when the raging hormones of those boys are amplified after bunking collectively day after day and evening after evening. Whereas Edgerton brings some title recognition to the movie, The Plague is carried by the younger forged led by Everett Blunck, Kayo Martin, and Kenny Rasmussen. Kayo Martin makes for a convincing villain within the normalcy of his portrayal as Jake. All of us went to high school with a child like Jake, and Martin conveys an eerily refined menace. Kenny Rasmussen evokes the weirdness of Eli with out making him a caricature, whereas Everett Blunck is superb as virtually each scene hinges on his efficiency. Blunck makes you’re feeling dangerous for Ben by way of his nightmarish expertise on the camp, however at all times with a sensible sense that this might have been a documentary with how pure his efficiency is.

Joel Edgerton initially wished to direct The Plague, however author Charlie Polinger insisted he wished to make his debut. There’s a dread working by way of The Plague that’s balanced with a magnificence, because of the 35mm movie. Setting the story at a summer time camp accentuates the physique horror factor of the fictional plague, as all of those youngsters have to be in bodily contact to play water polo. Polinger echoes the hierarchical construction of the navy in how the boys bunk collectively and reside their day-to-day, attempting to forge camaraderie as a staff whereas scuffling with the testosterone surrounding them. The presence of a ladies’ swimming camp on the similar facility provides much more to the hormonal surge these boys take care of, and Polinger makes use of that simmering rigidity to important impact. The Plague feels just like the opening boot camp part of Full Metallic Jacket, with Ben and Eli standing in as diminutive variations of Matthew Modine’s Joker and Vincent D’Onofrio’s Pyle. Johan Lenox’s rating contributes to the pervasive sense that one thing dreadful is about to occur after each scene within the movie, a rigidity that persists all through your complete film.

The Plague is a film that everybody will relate to. We have been all youngsters and needed to cope with feeling unnoticed or ostracized, and The Plague properties in on the awkwardness and discomfort of these experiences. It’s much more relatable right this moment as mother and father expertise the magnification of bullying and harassment that children should cope with in a world absolutely linked by way of social media. Not each child is a sufferer, and never each child is a bully, however puberty is an inevitable stick of dynamite that might explode at any second. Charlie Polinger has masterfully captured the buildup to an explosion and the way it might have been prevented at many factors earlier than it lastly occurs. The Plague is an unimaginable debut that’s each fantastically made and terrifying to look at, and deserves each little bit of acclaim it has earned. It is a film that may make you anxious as you watch it and depart you with rather a lot to consider, each about your individual childhood and about those that could also be going by way of one thing related now.

The Plague opens in restricted launch on December twenty fourth, increasing nationwide on January 2, 2026.