by Anthony O'Connor
Worth: $14.00
FilmInk rates movies out of $20 — the score indicates the amount we believe a ticket to the movie to be worth
Cast:
Hannah Einbinder, Gillian Anderson, Jack Haven, Patrick Fischler, Amanda Fix, Arthur Conti
Intro:
Imperfect, indulgent, horny and stylish as all get-out …
The summer camp slasher movie craze that began in the 1980s has surprisingly long legs, culturally speaking. Obviously, the big name in that sub-genre is the Friday the 13th series (1980-2009), comprising twelve (!) entries of varying degrees of quality and/or ridiculousness. Of course, there are plenty of other examples including the excellent The Burning (1981), the fun Madman (1982) and the extremely engaging, albeit problematic for some, Sleepaway Camp (1983). However, in all the disparate ways that these films (and others) have dealt with the subject matter and setting, none have been like Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma from writer/director Jane Schoenbrun (I Saw the TV Glow). Whether this unique take resonates with you or not will be a matter of individual taste.
Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma is the story of uptight queer Gen Z filmmaker Kris (Hannah Einbinder), a movie obsessive who has been given the chance to reboot the long-running Camp Miasma slasher series (sort of a fictitious combination of Friday the 13th and Sleepaway Camp). To really nail the story, Kris visits Billy Presley (Gillian Anderson), the final girl from the first Camp Miasma film who has since become a recluse and lives in the abandoned campground where the movie was shot. The pair don’t entirely connect at first, despite there being an obvious physical attraction, however as they begin to bond, Kris starts to let go of some of her uptight tendencies and decides to reveal more of herself to Billy. However, Kris may just have unlocked the door to something far stranger, and more deadly, than anything she could have imagined.
Where to even begin … Camp Miasma is, as the kids say, a vibe. It’s a nearly plotless, profoundly erotic, often very funny candy-coloured daydream that flows across the screen for two hours, embracing dream logic as its story engine. It’s a queer fantasy, first and foremost, existing in an alternate reality where a slasher series starring the non-binary killer Little Death (Jack Haven) became a cultural juggernaut, and explores the tropes of slasher flicks in a wry, knowing but very affectionate way. Despite the somewhat misleading title and trailer, this isn’t a horror movie in any meaningful sense, and even the gore is deliberately cartoonish and weightless. This is more a story about learning to accept one’s flaws and peccadilloes, to embrace the imperfect or damaged, and evolve accordingly. In aggregate, it’s a very entertaining movie, however it’s also a bit uneven at times, falling desperately in love with its own sense of style, occasionally at the expense of thematic clarity.
Performances are absolutely terrific, mind you, with Hannah Einbinder nailing her ‘young person with insufferable opinions who you can’t help but love’ schtick like in Hacks (side note: watch Hacks. It’s brilliant) and Gillian Anderson leaning into one of the wackiest Southern accents in recent memory and becoming a vampish femme fatale. Jack Haven also does solid work as the quasi-villain of the piece, which is impressive considering they’ve got a ventilation unit on their head.
Ultimately, Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma won’t be a film for everyone. Your humble scribe appreciated it more than resonated with it deeply on a personal level. However, for arty queers who are addicted to trashy cinema and sugary treats, this will feel like a personalised love letter with an extremely toey central relationship and a gorgeous soundtrack to boot. Imperfect, indulgent, horny and stylish as all get-out, this is a film that knows its niche and fills it to overflowing with sticky, brightly coloured blood that looks good enough to eat.
