Presented at Cannes in May 2025 (in the Un Certain Regard section, dedicated to young cinema), The Plague is one of the great revelations of the new American independent cinema. A story of children and water polo in the form of a psychological thriller, told with great intelligence and a keen sense of narrative and image.
It's a water polo summer camp somewhere in the United States. The kids are 12 or 13 years old. The girls are only glimpsed, sometimes at the pool, when a synchronized swimming lesson follows a water polo session—just enough to awaken budding fantasies in the pre-teens. All the elements of a school bullying film are there: a small, single-sex group at the most challenging age for social relationships. And of course, the near-nudity of the pool and the sport, which constantly exposes bodies, exacerbates jealousies and comparisons. It's in this context that Ben arrives at the summer camp, a newcomer to a place where many have known each other since last year. Quite naturally, Ben joins the table of popular boys, led by the charismatic Jake (played by 15-year-old Kayo Martin in his first role—a real revelation in this film). When Eli walks by, Jake and the others distance themselves. Slightly overweight, Eli is a boy rejected by everyone. He has marks all over his body, a rash that could be hives, eczema, or shingles. But the other children say it's the plague, and that going near him risks infection. Ben doesn't know what to think, torn between the desire to fit in, even if it means humiliating others in turn, and the wish to right the wrong by getting closer to poor Eli, whom he pities.
D’A world by Laura Wandel (2021) No waves from Teddy Lussi-Modeste (2024) and up to the classic of classics, Carrie at the Devil's Ball Since Brian De Palma's film (1976), school bullying has been a recurring theme in film history, occupying an increasingly prominent place. There is the obvious social issue, particularly relevant today, and rightly so. But it must also be said that a community of children has the advantage of being a kind of small society, a "little world," to use Laura Wandel's expression, in a way Lord of the FliesSo, it's a fantastic film. However, children aren't adults, not even teenagers, and many filmmakers have struggled with this, making their portrayals of children seem unbelievable, with behaviors that are either "too childish" or, conversely, too adult. Charlie Polinger avoids these pitfalls. It seems the filmmaker has never forgotten the atmosphere of summer camp when you're a 12-year-old boy, and the personalities you encounter there. Like Jake, who is at once cruel, unfair, and violent, but also funny, charming, and brilliant. Because children, too, can be ambiguous and complex characters, and the director understands this well. The stereotype of the nerd bullied by the jock with bad grades is a tired cinematic cliché. Here, Jake is as much the bully as the top student. And he may have his reasons, as the film skillfully explains, without, of course, excusing him. Perhaps this is how he finds fulfillment in the school or extracurricular setting, because he is ignored and rejected by his family (a single shot offers us a complete perspective on this character's family life – a sign of a particularly well-written and directed film). Opposite him, Eli, his victim, exhibits objectively antisocial behavior, mannerisms and tics, disturbing or strange obsessions: the behavior of a child so often rejected that he revels in his marginality, as if he has accepted that the only way for him to belong to the group is to play the weirdo, to be the designated outcast, the pariah. A nuanced yet terrifying analysis of the complex mechanisms of bullying.
Corn (Mais) The Plague This isn't just an edifying case study of exclusion and bullying in schools. It's also a thriller, almost a horror film. Playing on constant tension, with significant attention to image and sound, Charlie Polinger's direction generously draws on genre cinema. It's therefore hardly surprising to learn that this is the direction in which the young filmmaker's career is evolving (through an adaptation of Edgar Allan Poe for A24, starring Léa Seydoux and Mikey Madison, slated for 2027). Thus, the director doesn't simply offer us a glimpse into a childlike society: he fully immerses us in it. A masterstroke for the first film from a filmmaker to watch very closely.
The Plague by Charlie Polinger
In theaters June 3
