The Plague is a 2025 thriller film written and directed by Charlie Polinger in his directorial debut. It stars Everett Blunck, Kayo Martin, Kenny Rasmussen, and Joel Edgerton, who was also a producer. In the film, a twelve-year-old boy (Blunck) arrives at the Tom Lerner Water Polo Camp as a socially anxious outsider. Desperate to fit into the ruthless social hierarchy, he aligns himself with a group of popular boys led by Jake (Martin).
The Plague premiered at the Un Certain Regard section of the 2025 Cannes Film Festival on May 16, 2025, and had limited theatrical release in the United States on December 24, 2025, before expanding nationwide on January 2, 2026. It received critical acclaim.
Contents
Plot
In 2003, middle schooler Ben is attending a water polo summer camp, led by coach "Daddy Wags", that includes a popular boy, Jake, his group of friends, and the eccentric misfit Eli. Anxious to fit in, Ben attempts to befriend the callous Jake, which includes willingly joining in with his friends' bullying and exclusion of Eli, who suffers from a mysterious skin disorder (implied to be a fungal infection), which Jake and his circle call "the plague", a mythical disease that affects mental and motor functions. Eli is ambivalent about his outsider status, and Ben, growing empathetic to his situation and feeling guilty about his treatment, eventually connects with him in private after being annoyed by Jake's behavior. In the locker room when Ben and Eli are alone, Ben offers to apply clotrimazole, an anti-fungal cream, to the rash on Eli's back.
Jake starts a rumor that Ben has contracted the plague from Eli, and the others begin to avoid and torment him, much to Ben's distress. Though he denies the accusation, he discovers that he also has the mysterious skin disorder, which begins to spread over his body. After being humiliated one night after a wet dream, he attempts to run away from the camp, but Daddy Wags convinces him to return with a lukewarm pep talk. The next day, Ben witnesses Daddy Wags reprimanding Jake in private. When later confronted by Jake, Ben denies being responsible and suggests Eli may have been. Jake continues to suspect Ben. That night, Jake and the other boys vengefully dump cockroaches over Ben while he sleeps, then trap him underneath his blanket. During a practice game, Ben plays aggressively against Jake, culminating in scratching him and drawing blood. In retaliation, a furious Jake punches him and attempts to drown him, leading to his expulsion from the program.
The summer camp hosts a co-ed dance, during which Eli dances alone with a cardboard cutout he had found during an earlier outing. Upset that Eli still refuses to fit in, Ben breaks the cutout, leading an upset Eli to depart to repair it. Ben follows him to the locker room and berates him for his attitude and behavior, arguing that nobody will want to befriend him if he continues to be himself. A tearful and distraught Eli cuts off one of his fingers with a pair of scissors, and he leaves for the hospital with Daddy Wags. Covered in Eli's blood, Ben returns to the event, where he begins to dance in the same wild, uninhibited way as Eli had earlier in the film, ignoring the stares of the others around him.
Cast
Everett Blunck as Ben
Kayo Martin as Jake
Kenny Rasmussen as Eli
Joel Edgerton as Daddy Wags
Lennox Espy as Julian
Lucas Adler as Logan
Elliott Heffernan as Tic Tac
Caden Burris as Matt
Kolton Lee as Corbin
Production
Initially, when Joel Edgerton received the script by Charlie Polinger, he wanted to direct the film; however, Polinger wanted to, with Edgerton instead offering to help get it made. Polinger set out to "capture a social dread and vulnerability of your body and something you don't see as much with boys because it requires a certain vulnerability to be an object of terror in that way", and cites The Shining, Full Metal Jacket, and Beau Travail as primary sources of inspiration.
The film was shot on 35 mm film in Bucharest, Romania.
Release
The film had its world premiere at the 2025 Cannes Film Festival on May 16, 2025, in the Un Certain Regard section. In August 2025, Independent Film Company acquired North American distribution rights to the film, giving it a theatrical release in the United States on December 24, 2025, before expanding nationwide on January 2, 2026.
In addition to Cannes, the film played at the Deauville American Film Festival, Fantastic Fest, Sitges Film Festival, Chicago International Film Festival, AFI Fest, SCAD Savannah Film Festival, Miami Film Festival, St. Louis International Film Festival, and many others.
Reception
Critical response
The film was met with critical acclaim and a warm reception at Cannes. It received an eleven minute standing ovation, making it the longest standing ovation for both a debut director and a film competing within the Un Certain Regard section in the history of the festival. It was described as "perhaps the hottest American film at the festival".
On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 97% of 120 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 7.7/10. The website's consensus reads: "Steeped in disquieting mood without ever treading water, The Plague takes common adolescent anxieties and elevates them into an unforgettable chiller." Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the film a score of 79 out of 100, based on 21 critics, indicating "generally favorable" reviews.
