Adolescence is a battlefield, and summer camp? It might just be the front line. But what if the real monster isn’t the awkwardness of puberty, but something far darker lurking beneath the surface? Charlie Polinger’s haunting debut feature, The Plague, dives headfirst into this chilling question. Set at an all-boys summer water polo camp, the film follows Ben (a standout performance by Everett Blunck), a 12-year-old grappling with social anxiety. Here’s where it gets twisted: the boys participate in a disturbing ritual where they single out an outcast, branding them with an illness they call “the plague.” But as the line between imagination and reality blurs, you’ll find yourself questioning—is this just a twisted metaphor for puberty, or is something genuinely sinister at play? And this is the part most people miss—the film’s allegorical undertones are as unsettling as they are thought-provoking, leaving you to wonder if the true horror lies within the boys themselves or in the world they’ve created.
IndieWire’s exclusive trailer, released ahead of the film’s December 24 debut, offers a glimpse into this acne-scarred nightmare. Joel Edgerton stars as the boys’ coach, a man woefully unprepared to handle the cruelty they unleash on one another. Shot on 35mm during a sweltering summer, the film feels both timeless and eerily contemporary. Polinger explains, “We were capturing something that felt timeless… there’s no comparison. Shooting on film rendered these kids’ faces and closeups in such a beautiful, haunting way.”
But here’s where it gets controversial—while the film pays homage to classic coming-of-age stories, it ditches the nostalgia for a chilling twist. Polinger critiques the “bro-y hangout” or “biking-around-the-suburbs” tropes often seen in films about young boys, instead drawing inspiration from works like Bo Burnham’s Eighth Grade and Julia Ducournau’s Raw. “These films capture a social dread and vulnerability of your body,” he notes, “something you don’t see as much with boys because it requires a certain vulnerability to be an object of terror in that way.”
IndieWire’s Cannes review praises Polinger’s ability to weave together coming-of-age, body horror, and bullying genres, ultimately revealing the film’s heartfelt focus: two 12-year-old boys and their contrasting ways of navigating difference.
Independent Film Company brings The Plague to select theaters on December 24, with a wider release on January 2. But here’s the real question—is this film a brilliant exploration of adolescence’s darker corners, or does it go too far in its portrayal of youthful cruelty? Let us know in the comments—we’re eager to hear your take on this provocative and unforgettable debut.
