Canadian Premiere
Abandoned by his mother at an all-boys water polo camp, 12-year-old Ben (Everett Blunck) is plunged into the deep end of toxic peer pressure. Almost debilitatingly shy and terrified of incurring the wrath of his feral campmates’ pint-sized ringleader (Kayo Martin), Ben joins the braying pack in mercilessly tormenting Eli (Kenny Rasmussen), an awkward kid whose unsightly skin rash has been branded “the plague” and deemed highly transmissible by the boys. But when Ben begins to find similar blemishes on his own body, he questions whether there might possibly be some credence to their wild claims…
One of the most promising debuts from this year’s Un Certain Regard section at Cannes, Charlie Polinger’s exquisitely lensed, propulsively edited, and impeccably acted bullying drama amplifies all-too-familiar adolescent anxieties into the stuff of nerve-fraying horror. And yet for all of its aesthetic prowess, it’s The Plague’s psychological acuity and emotional authenticity that makes it an experience that’s impossible to shake.
Everett Blunck, Joel Edgerton, Kayo Martin
USA
2025
English
At International Village
At The Rio
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Credits & Director
Producer
Joel Edgerton, Lizzie Shapiro, Lucy McKendrick, Steven Schneider, Roy Lee, Derek Dauchy
Screenwriter
Charlie Polinger
Cinematography
Steven Breckon
Editor
Henry Hayes, Simon Njoo
Original Music
Johan Lenox
Charlie Polinger
Charlie Polinger is a New York–based filmmaker whose feature film debut is The Plague (2025). His second feature, The Masque of the Red Death, will be produced by A24 and Picturestart, and goes into production later this year.
Filmography: A Place to Stay (2018); Sauna (2018); Fuck Me, Richard (2023)
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The Plague
At a water polo camp, Ben is plunged into the deep end of toxic peer pressure. Terrified of incurring his campmates’ wrath, he joins them in tormenting a kid whose skin rash has been branded “the plague”. But then he experiences a breakout of his own...