The Plague
2025 · Directed by Charlie Polinger
Original language: English
- drama
- thriller
The story
A socially awkward tween endures the ruthless hierarchy at a water polo camp, his anxiety spiraling into psychological turmoil over the summer.
What it’s like
Sun-bleached and humid, with chlorine-blue pool light flickering across pale tile and wet skin, the look leans on long, watchful takes of a summer camp where the water seems to hold everything back. Sound does a lot of the work: muffled underwater hush, the slap of water polo balls, and a low, unsettling score that tightens as the days stretch on. Its vibe is clammy dread, a kind of cautionary unease that sits close to the body, with moments of genuine body horror and sharp, cruel social jabs that come without warning. Pacing is slow and constricted, building a claustrophobic pressure rather than delivering release, and the emotional register stays raw and humiliating. The central arc follows an anxious, isolated boy whose fear curdles into a spiraling inner crisis as he is ground down by the group's hazing. Intensity is high in the psychological sense: bullying, degradation and a few grisly, bodily moments, with some physical violence, but nothing gratuitous. Not gentle, and not for a relaxed summer watch. It suits viewers who want tense independent drama about cruelty, adolescence and mental strain, and who can sit with discomfort.
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