‘The Plague’ Review: Chlorine, Contagion, and Conformity

The Plague is a ferociously realistic debut from Charlie Polinger that is sure to make your skin crawl and make you think. The film follows a group of boys at a water polo camp. Specifically, a socially awkward tween named Ben, played by Everett Blunck, who is new to town. Ben is thrust into a ruthless hierarchy of boys that decide whether you fit in or not. The mark of not fitting in comes in the form of a plague, or rash that is spread through touch. Anxiety rises, and infections spread, in this gripping, socially relevant tale of how bullying can be harmful in formative years. Read our full review for The Plague below. 

It can be really hard to depict bullying in a truthful manner. The filmmaker could make the bully overly aggressive, unjustifiably cruel, or border on a little corny. Fortunately, The Plague is one of the most realistic depictions of bullying put to screen. This may be due to the fact that the child actors are giving some of the best and most realistic child performances you can see, but the screenplay and direction has a lot to do with that as well. The first-time writer, director Charlie Polinger seems to have a deep understanding of the dynamics and personality traits that make a bully. The bully in this film is not outwardly mean all the time, only when a character does something he does not like or that he deems weird. This only enhances the psychological thriller aspect of the film. Ben never knows where he stands and the random spurts of shame only cut deeper. This film has an intensely realistic quality to it, that takes it to a whole other level.

The Plague is an incredibly clever, raw depiction of the struggles of not fitting in. Nonconformity is a plague, individuality is a plague, insecurity is a plague. The body horror in this film is used to give the children a physical mark of being an outsider. It really speaks to how it actually feels to be bullied or be labeled weird, it is like something physically is wrong with you that you can not control. The main character, Ben, in the ladder half of the film says something along the lines of “You can be yourself when that self is someone people want to be around.” This is the thesis statement of the entire film. When you are young you are told to be yourself and that will make people like you, but that only works when that self positions you higher on the social hierarchy. Being unique puts you at a disadvantage in the present, especially when you are in the formative years of junior high. This visual metaphor for the plight of not fitting being an actual plague is super effective and borderline genius. The body horror in the film is narratively rich but not extreme in any regard, so if full on body horror is not your thing The Plague may still work for you. 

What is so special about this movie is that it feels like it comes from a place of actually wanting to understand and accurately show the hierarchies and psychological effects of bullying. One of the pivotal scenes of the film is a conversation between Joel Edgerton’s Daddy Wags and Ben. It really hits at the crux of the issue and the bitter truth that bullying is not something that anyone has figured out. There is no cure, no way to stop it yet. The monologue is deeply sad and a reminder that these moments are not forever. Yet it also hits on why this conversation will not even help Ben in this moment, because the only way to stop it is to get through it. Unless Ben wants to leave his moral code behind, which will only harm him more in the future. The Plague leaves you with a lot to think about and a lot of performances or scenes that will stick with you. My one single complaint about the film is that the score did not work in any way, though I see what they were going for, it was distracting and did not fit the film. If you have the chance to catch this film in a theater near you, I would highly recommend. 

The Plague is the feature-length directorial debut of Charlie Polinger and stars Everett Blunck, Joel Edgerton, Kayo Martin, and Kenny Rasmussen. The film’s theatrical release was on January 2. 

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