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.
Supported by
Media Partner
Everett Blunck, Joel Edgerton, Kayo Martin
USA
2025
English
At International Village
At The Rio
Indigenous & Community Access
Indigenous Access Tickets Community Access Tickets Ticket Donation Requests
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)
Altered States
See more films in this series
Our Hero, Balthazar
A wealthy student's performative online videos put him on a collision course with an online troll, who may be planning an act of mass violence. Oscar Boyson's film is a searing examination of youth disaffected by the internet and driven to destruction.
A Useful Ghost
Wacky, whimsical, and always engaging, this tale about Thailand’s bloody modern history starts with a ghost in a vacuum cleaner and ends with a guerilla attack on an orgy. In between there’s romance, deadpan comedy, and subversive historical excavation.
Decorado
In existential crisis, a middle-aged mouse increasingly believes the world is unreal, much like a film set. As his suspicions grow increasingly credible, will he accept his fate, or hatch one last bid for freedom?
Night Stage
Love becomes an act of defiance when a queer actor and a closeted politician discover a mutual fetish for public sex in the streets of Porto Alegre. A steamy, slow-burn erotic thriller with a dreamy neo-noir aesthetic.
Foreigner
An Iranian teenager who recently immigrated to Canada is desperate to make friends at her new high school. Pressured to dye her hair blonde, she unleashes a demonic force rooted within her. A humourous coming-of-age horror from Ava Maria Safai.
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...
Honey Bunch
After waking from a coma with memory loss, Diane is taken to an experimental treatment centre in the wilderness by her husband Homer. Disturbing visions accompany her recovery, and as her memories return, Diane discovers dark truths about her marriage.
Dead Lover
A foul-smelling gravedigger’s romance ends in tragedy, spurring her to attempt a resurrection through a madcap series of science experiments. Grace Glowicki and Ben Petrie’s film is a zany DIY horror that zaps fresh life into Mary Shelley’s classic.