My quick rating - 6.1/10. I thought The Plague was going to make me afraid of swimming pools forever or infect me with something deadly. Instead, I got a movie that tried to psychologically scar me, and reminded me in an uncomfortable way that kids can be kind of terrible (just like adults, go figure)
The plot revolves around a nervous 12-year-old’s experience in a vicious social world at an all-boys water polo camp, and being nice is a disease. The tradition here is to shun one kid who is referred to as ‘The Plague’ due to illness, though it is not specified what kind...Is it real? Is it rumor? Is it just weaponized puberty? The movie clearly wants that uncertainty to be the engine of dread.
First, let’s address the chlorine-scented elephant in the room. This is supposed to be a U.S. summer camp, but it is so obviously shot somewhere in Eastern Europe that it’s distracting (the credits confirmed it's Romania). The architecture, the locations, even the general vibe scream “discount Baltic sports facility.” I half expected someone to spike the Gatorade with beet juice. It pulled me out of the immersion more than once.
Joel Edgerton shows up as the coach/dad figure and, once again, proves he is physically incapable of giving a bad performance (Train Dreams, anyone?). The man could convincingly play a conflicted folding chair. The problem is, where are the rest of the adults? This camp seems to be run on a staffing model of “one stressed coach and vibes.” These kids have more unsupervised psychological warfare going on than a reality TV show.
The film is tagged as horror, which feels generous. There’s tension, yes. There’s cruelty, absolutely. There are looks from Eli (Kenny Rasmussen) and Ben (Everett Blunck) that could curdle milk at twenty paces. But very little of it escalates into anything that truly stands as horror. It’s more social dread than genre dread. One scene feels directly inspired by Full Metal Jacket’s group punishment sequence, just resized to junior edition.
Performance-wise, Everett Blunck is the standout and carries a wide emotional range convincingly. That said, I struggled with the intended sympathy for Ben. Yes, bullying is wrong - full stop - but the script makes some choices that undermine him hard. Treating Eli like a human being? Good. Noble. Rubbing lotion on his back in front of a pack of middle-school piranhas? That is not bravery, that is social self-detonation. And later, when he throws Eli under the bus, any remaining moral high ground gets power-washed away. I found myself thinking, “Well…consequences are clearly on the way.”
The themes are solid. Rumor as disease, conformity pressure, adolescent cruelty, and vulnerability. The dread builds slowly, sometimes too slowly, and the pacing can wobble. There’s not a lot of spontaneity in the scene construction, but the performances and mood keep it watchable.
The Plague didn’t hit as hard for me as it clearly will for some, especially those with personal bullying scars, but it’s still worth a look. Just don’t go in expecting a horror film. Think more along the lines of psychological poolside anxiety drama.
No comments:
Post a Comment