TEENAGE SEX AND DEATH AT CAMP MIASMA
(director/writer: Jane Schonbrun; cinematographer: Eric Yue; editor: Graham Mason; music: Alex G; cast: Hannah Einbinder (Kris), Amanda Fix (young Billy Preston), Gillian Anderson (Billy Preston), Patrick Fischler (Rudolph), Jasmin Savoy Brown (Mari, Kris’s lover),Eva Victor (camp counselor), Zach Cherry (camp counselor), Sarah Sherman (Billy’s agent), Quintessa Swindell (camp counselor), Jack Haven (Little Death), Aren Buchholz (Thor), Arthur Conti (Alex), Dylan Baker (Jeffrey), Kevin McDonald (Anthony/County Sheriff), Hunter Dillon (Chuck), Jess McLeod (Tracy); Runtime: 106; MPAA Rating: R; producers: Dede Gardner, Jeremy Kleiner; Mubi; 2026)
“Kinky gonzo horror pic about self-discovery.”
Reviewed by Dennis Schwartz
Jane Schonbrun (“I Saw The TV Glow”/”We’re All Going to the World’s Fair”) is the auteur of this kinky gonzo horror pic, a deeply personal oddball allegory about self-discovery. It shows how pop culture influences lives, how distorting memories can be, and how afraid we sometimes can be over our sexual appetites.
During the cult classic franchise original, from the 1980s, the spear-wielding and ceiling vent mask wearing transgender serial killer Little Death (Jack Haven) was grounded decades ago at the site of Camp Miasma. The up-and-coming 29-year-old queer indie filmmaker Kris (Hannah Einbinder), a stand-in for the director, is hired to direct an origin film as a reboot to the franchise “Friday the 13th” like film. The producers want a modern ‘woke’ film to get a bigger audience. Therefore Kris meets for support with the reclusive lesbian Billy Preston (Gillan Anderson), who was the star of the original Camp Miasma film. The retired Billy now lives in a remote cabin, in the Pacific Northwest, that’s on the grounds where the earlier Camp Miasma film was made.
Billy, doing a Norma Desmond impression from “Sunset Boulevard,” is not impressed with meeting fellow lesbian Kris, as they talk frankly about sex, watch the original film, smoke grass, and dine on fried chicken and gummy candy.
Billy tells the flustered workaholic Kris her film was about “flesh and fluids.” Their conversation is about confronting sexuality and one’s hang-ups.
It’s a heady and humorous film with surreal imagery. It tells us what we really mean when we say we enjoy slasher films. Schonbrunon is at the top of her game, who has made an arty personal film that’s not for everyone but should resonate with those who go along with her take on the significance of sex in the movies.
It played at the Cannes Film Festival.
REVIEWED ON 5/21/2026 GRADE: A
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