The Plague Review: When Childhood Turns Brutal

Genres – Drama, Thriller
Director – Charlie Polinger
Writers – Charlie Polinger
Cast – Everett Blunck, Kayo Martin, Kenny Rasmussen, and Joel Edgerton
Runtime – 95 Minutes
My Rating – ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐½☆☆

Where to watch/stream The Plague

I won’t be revisiting The Plague anytime soon, but it earned its place in my head.

The Plague reminds you how awful kids can be when no one is paying attention.

Plot Summary of The Plague (Spoiler-Free)

The Plague takes place during the summer of 2003 at a sleepaway water polo camp for boys aged 12 and 13, and opens by very clearly telling us when and where we are, like it’s setting up an alibi, nit this is important, because everything that follows feels painfully specific, like someone is recreating a memory they wish they could forget.

Most of the boys at the camp already know each other from an earlier session, where they have their routines, their inside jokes, their unspoken rules, and into this mix walks Ben, a new kid with a slight accent and a quiet energy that immediately marks him as someone trying very hard not to mess up his first impression.

At first, it seems like he might be okay, where the teasing is mild, the laughs feel friendly enough, and he’s allowed a seat at the lunch table, which at that age is basically social oxygen.

Then there’s Eli.

Eli is another boy at the camp, and he is treated like he carries something contagious, because according to the group, he does, as the boys claim Eli has “the plague,” a made-up illness that spreads through touch or even standing too close.

They describe it in gross detail, body parts falling off, the mind rotting, the whole works, and Eli actually does have a visible skin rash, which gives their lie just enough truth to stick.

The group’s leader, Jake, is the one who controls this story, and he decides who belongs and who doesn’t – Avoid Eli or suffer the consequences, and the rest of the boys fall in line, because that’s what kids do when they’re scared of being next.

Adults exist at this camp, technically, where there is a coach who is supposed to be in charge, but he’s distant, cold, and mostly useless, and the parents are out of the picture entirely.

That’s all I’ll say about the plot itself – the movie doesn’t rely on big twists or surprises anyway, as it’s more interested in watching how something small and stupid turns into something cruel and damaging.

The Plague: Is It Worth Watching?

I’ll admit, this film made me quite uncomfortable and occasionally annoyed, but I mean it, this is not a fun watch, and it’s definitely not something you should watch casually, but it’s effective, thoughtful in its own rough way, and clearly made by someone who knows exactly what kind of memory they’re digging up.

It’s a film where you can feel the intention behind every choice, even when those choices don’t fully work, but sometimes that intention carries the movie, and sometimes it makes the flaws stand out more, but either way, I was never bored, and I also couldn’t shake it for a while after.

What will strike you almost immediately is how specific this movie feels, where the summer camp setting isn’t just a backdrop, it’s the engine of the whole thing. Sleepaway camps already operate on a weird social logic, where you’re trapped with strangers, away from parents, desperate to fit in, and living under rules that feel half-made-up, and The Plague understands that deeply.

The water polo camp is supposed to be about teamwork and discipline, but that idea collapses almost instantly, as the boys create their own version of order, and it’s based entirely on fear.

Jake doesn’t rule through yelling or violence, at least not at first, as je rules through stories, and the plague becomes a tool, a way to justify cruelty without admitting it’s cruelty, and that’s what the movie keeps circling back to, how kids use imagination as both a weapon and a shield.

The boys convince themselves that what they’re doing to Eli isn’t bullying, it’s self-protection. They’re not being mean, they’re being careful, and once that idea takes hold, it spreads faster than any fake disease.

Ben is the character I connected with the most, and not always comfortably. He’s not brave, not especially clever, and not cruel by nature, as he’s just scared – scared of being alone, scared of being laughed at, scared of losing the little bit of safety he’s found.

There’s something painfully real about watching him make small compromises, where he doesn’t stand up for Eli, but he doesn’t fully attack him either, he just hovers in that awful middle space where most people end up at that age.

What makes it worse is that Ben has his own stuff going on, as his parents are divorcing, which hangs over him quietly, and the movie doesn’t turn this into a big speech or a dramatic scene. either – ijust exists in the background, like another crack in his foundation.

He needs acceptance more than he needs to be right, and Jake knows it.

Jake is the kind of kid who grows up into a manager everyone hates, as he’s charming when it suits him, calm when he’s being cruel, and always watching for weakness, and what makes him unsettling is just how controlled he is at such a young age.

There are moments where he almost seems reasonable, which is the scariest part, as we watch him explain the plague rules like he’s doing Ben a favor, and he frames his cruelty as responsibility.

Eli on the other hand is a hard character to watch, and I don’t mean that in a performative way.

He’s strange, smart, and clearly lonely, and he doesn’t know how to protect himself socially, and he doesn’t seem interested in pretending to be normal, which at that age is basically a crime.

The movie doesn’t make Eli into a saint or a symbol either, as he’s sometimes annoying, sometimes unsettling, and he leans into his weirdness in ways that don’t help him, but that’s also part of the point.

Kids like Eli don’t get bullied because they’re bad people, they get bullied because they don’t know how to hide, and the plague lie sticks to him because it gives the group permission to treat him as less than human, as once that happens, everything else becomes easier to justify.

The coach is the only adult the movie really focuses on, and he is spectacularly ineffective, as he’s not a villain, he’s worse than that – he’s indifferent.

He misses obvious warning signs, brushes off concerns, and when he does step in, he somehow manages to make things wors, and this felt depressingly accurate – not because adults are evil, but because they’re tired, distracted, or convinced that kids will “work it out.”

The movie never gives us a speech about this, and it just lets the consequences play out.

While I liked and enjoyed a lot about the film, the sound design annoyed me at times, as the film loves quiet, whispered conversations followed by sudden loud noises, and while it works occasionally, after a while it started to feel like someone poking me repeatedly and saying, “See, tension.”

Visually, though, the movie is much stronger, and the pool scenes, especially those shot underwater, are quite striking, and there’s something about watching these boys submerged, cut off from air and authority, that fits the story perfectly.

There are also practical things that don’t add up.

If Eli’s rash might be contagious, why is he allowed at a camp built around close physical contact and shared water? Where are the other counselors? Why does this place feel both crowded and completely unsupervised?

These questions did nag at me a bit while watching, and the movie never answers them, so depending on your tolerance, this will either bother you or feel like a minor issue compared to the emotional weight of the story.

For me, it was a little of both.

Despite this, The Plague works because it understands its subject matter deeply, and it doesn’t exaggerate childhood cruelty, as if anything, it tones it down, where the horror comes from recognition, not shock.

You’ve seen these kids before, and you might have been one of them, and this film isn’t interested in easy lessons or clean endings – it’s more about sitting in discomfort and letting it fester.

What I Liked (And What I Didn’t Like)

Pros

The setting feels painfully real

Summer camp politics are captured perfectly.

The kids feel like actual kids

Awkward, mean, insecure, and inconsistent.

Jake is a believable bully

No cartoon villain energy here.

Ben’s quiet fear rings true

His choices make sense, even when they hurt.

Underwater scenes are genuinely effective

They add mood without trying too hard.

It sticks with you

Not in a fun way though.

Cons

The loud sound tricks get old

Startling isn’t the same as scary.

Some camp logistics make no sense

Distracting if you think about them too much.

The ending feels messy

It doesn’t fully land as well as I had hoped.

A few scenes feel repetitive

The cruelty loops a bit.

The plague idea is stretched thin

It works better early than later.

Who Might Like The Plague

• If you’re interested in stories about childhood dynamics
• If you appreciate slow, uncomfortable tension
• If you like films rooted in real behavior
• If you’re a fan of character-driven stories
• If you don’t need likable characters

Who Might Dislike The Plague

• If you’re looking for fun or escapism
• If you’re sensitive to bullying themes
• If you hate unanswered questions

Final Verdict: Did I Enjoy Watching The Plague?

Enjoy isn’t the right word, but I’m glad I watched it.

The Plague is uncomfortable, frustrating, and occasionally uneven, but it all feels honest.

It reminds you how easy it is to be cruel when you’re scared, and how damaging silence can be.

I won’t be revisiting it anytime soon, but it earned its place in my head.

Simon Leasher

A lover of cinema for over 35 years, I have watched many films from around the world in many different genres, yet I still normally always come back to trashy slasher horror films when in doubt. More

And yes, The Godfather 2 is better than The Godfather.