'The Plague' Review
- Michael Petrey
- 3 days ago
- 2 min read
Release Date: 12/12/25 [Cinemas]
Genre: Drama. Thriller.
MPAA: Rated R.
Distributor: IFC Films.
The Verdict: A Must-See
The Plague is a sadly relatable childhood bully simulator with Full Metal Jacket vibes (grade school edition). Cringy, disturbing juvenile interactions are aplenty, both subtle and outright, that effectively convey common struggles kids face trying to fit in, avoiding becoming social pariahs and targets for humiliation like the plague (buh-dum-tss 🥁 )
The child actors are phenomenal and bring realistic performances and heart to their characters. Everett Blunck plays Ben who has recently moved from Boston and is struggling to acclimate to his new surroundings and water polo bunkmates. He quickly encounters obstacles to making new friends as the self-appointed alpha leader of the group Jake (Kayo Martin) uses his aggressive wit and quick-firing insults to deflect from his own personal struggles and project them onto the vulnerable kids around him.
The movie draws you in immediately to the closely knit social circles of an angsty tween infested water polo camp headed by coach Daddy Wags (not an optimal name for someone coaching a children’s water polo league) played by Joel Edgerton. The coach does his best to offer his advice and wisdom to Ben, but ultimately the saying ‘boys will be boys’ rings true in the worst of ways during this film.
Ben is highly impressionable and follows the lead of the other kids who have ostracized one of their teammates Eli (Kenny Rasmussen) who they claim has ‘the plague’ which can be transmitted by touch, making him a leper that everyone is afraid to be around. While the concept of Eli having the plague is likely a harsh fabrication for the sole purpose of bullying and torment, he does have a very real contagious skin rash that soon overtakes Ben. Ben finds himself being outcast from the group similar to Eli and after initially, albeit passively, supporting/defending Eli, he finds himself becoming a bully to protect himself and in his mind, protect Eli from himself and future bullying. Eli has no interest in conforming to the group’s dynamic of ‘acceptable’ personalities and is overtly being his socially awkward self, although he clearly has emotional and psychological demons that are hiding beneath his bumpy, red skin.
While there are some gruesome moments in The Plague, I wouldn’t consider it a horror in the traditional sense. There are no jump scares or axe murderers, but plenty of awkward, aggressive kids who are doing their best to navigate their quickly evolving bodies and minds through a landmine-laden social arena of a claustrophobic water polo camp. The film highlights some inevitable horrors of growing up and the external and internal pressures we face and overcome in order to accept ourselves and be accepted by others.
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