THE PLAGUE: 3 ½ STARS. “A mix of “The Lord of the Flies” and body horror.”
SYNOPSIS: In “The Plague,” a new psychological drama-thriller now playing in theatres, a socially anxious 12-year-old boy is hazed at an all-boys’ water polo camp for showing kindness to another outcast.
CAST: Everett Blunck, Kayo Martin, Kenny Rasmussen, and Joel Edgerton. Written and directed by Charlie Polinger.
REVIEW: A mix of “The Lord of the Flies” and body horror, “The Plague” is a coming-of-age drama that explores peer pressure, gaslighting and toxic masculinity.
Set in 2013, “The Plague” sees 12-year-old Ben (Everett Blunck) desperate to be one of the guys at his all-boys water polo summer camp. When he meets Eli Kenny Rasmussen), an outsider who always wears a long-sleeved shirt, even in the pool, he asks school top dog Jake (Kayo Martin), “What’s with Eli?”
“He’s got the plague. It turns your brain into baby food.”
Jake and the other boys bully Eli with a vigor that borders on sadism, but Ben is a considerate kid and treats him with kindness which puts him in Jake’s crosshairs.
“The Plague” is as tense as a drawn bowstring as Ben attempts to find a place for himself within the camp’s social hierarchies. It’s that push and pull that creates the film’s thick, intense atmosphere. Couple that with Johan Lenox’s anxiety-inducing score and you have an intentionally uncomfortable viewing experience that may leave you with an uneasy feeling in the pit of your stomach.
The ensemble cast, made up of mostly newcomers, feels authentic, particularly the lead trio. Blunck brings depth to Ben’s conundrum; is being popular more important than empathy? Martin as the cherubic looking villain, appears to be hiding a personal hurt that fuels his bullying bravado while Rasmussen, as social outcast Eli realistically plays a youngster on the outside looking in at the “cool” kids.
“The Plague” is a horror film but the horror here isn’t Eli’s rash, it’s alpha Jake’s lack of humanity spreads like a plague.
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