{"id":1133603,"date":"2026-08-06T09:48:17","date_gmt":"2026-08-06T09:48:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/1133603\/"},"modified":"2026-08-06T09:48:17","modified_gmt":"2026-08-06T09:48:17","slug":"teenage-sex-and-death-at-camp-miasma-review","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/1133603\/","title":{"rendered":"‘Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma’ Review"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Ask any horror fan, and they\u2019ll tell you that they first fell in love with the genre after watching a film they weren\u2019t supposed to as a kid. They had rummaged through their older brother\u2019s DVD collection, stayed up late to watch something on TV without their parents knowing, or accidentally stumbled upon a movie while searching for something else, mindlessly clicking through the blue-and-white TV guide until they saw a title that caught their attention. Jane Schoenbrun<\/strong>\u2019s sexy slasher satire Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma <\/strong>captures the thrill of discovering yourself through what frightens and excites you, combining the dreamy experimentation of We\u2019re All Going to the World\u2019s Fair<\/a><\/strong> and the confidence of I Saw the TV Glow<\/a><\/strong> to deliver the boldest, most joyful\u2014and arguably most personal\u2014film in their \u201cscreen trilogy.\u201d<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma follows Kris (Hacks star Hannah Einbinder<\/strong>), a young, queer filmmaker who\u2019s been given the opportunity to direct a \u201cwoke\u201d reboot of the now defunct \u201cCamp Miasma\u201d franchise after her film\u2014which we later discover is essentially Psycho <\/strong>told from the shower curtain\u2019s perspective\u2014made her a breakout star at Sundance. Determined to bring the original film\u2019s final girl back in the new installment, she travels from New York City to the frozen Pacific Northwest to convince Billy Presley (Gillian Anderson,<\/strong> whose incredible performance can only be described as Dolly Parton meets Norma Desmond) to revive her role.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Though Billy lives on Camp Tivoli, where the original film was shot, she\u2019s stayed far away from the franchise, declining to star in the progressively crappy sequels until Hollywood stopped calling altogether. She\u2019s found happiness and fulfillment creating Mark Rothko-esque paintings of the film\u2019s killer, \u201cLittle Death\u201d (Jack Haven<\/strong>), from the comfort of her cabin, where she invites Kris to stay the night. When Kris reminds Billy that this is a work meeting, Billy purrs, \u201cWe\u2019re already working.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

As the women rewatch the first \u201cCamp Miasma\u201d film, Kris realizes why she identified so much with Billy\u2019s character in the first place: there was something about the look in her eyes. And that something is still in her eyes now. If only Kris, who identifies herself with her work rather than just living it, didn\u2019t have so many hang-ups about sex. Maybe then she could experience what Billy experienced in \u201cCamp Miasma\u201d herself. Hey, the film\u2019s spear-wielding, gender-fluid killer wasn\u2019t named after the French colloquialism for no reason.\u00a0<\/p>\n

While Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma certainly engages with themes of gender and transness, Schoenbrun seems to be more fascinated with discovering yourself through pop culture, specifically horror, embracing what arouses you, and realizing that desire and fear are often related. Perhaps I\u2019ve been reading too much psychoanalysis, but I saw a lot of myself in Kris\u2019s gradual acceptance of her specific desires, and I\u2019m sure others will too, making Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma surprisingly accessible despite its densely layered ideas and playful takes on the genre.\u00a0<\/p>\n

I don\u2019t think anyone who has followed Schoenbrun would have expected the words \u201cjoy\u201d and\u00a0 \u201cplayful\u201d to be used this much to review their work, but it\u2019s the only way I can describe Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma. Make no mistake, this is still a Schoenbrun film, but it\u2019s also their warmest and funniest take on some of the ideas they\u2019ve been exploring. An outrageous Zoom call devolves into a frightening freakout that reminded me a lot of one of the most iconic moments in We\u2019re All Going to the World\u2019s Fair. There\u2019s a sensual KFC dinner that will make you think about dipping sauces in a whole new way. Little Death beheads and skewers campers to a surprising needle-drop. In fact, there are a ton of carefully deployed needle-drops that caught me by surprise each time.\u00a0Try to guess which song Anderson is singing along to while Einbinder runs through the woods in nothing but her underwear, terrified for her life. <\/p>\n

Which brings me to Einbinder\u2019s performance. As Kris, she\u2019s an awkward but lovable 29-year-old with a Bound-inspired tattoo who is totally fine being in a polyamorous relationship as long as her partner\u2019s needs are met. She\u2019d rather be eating gas station candies (she tells Billy that we are living in \u201cthe golden age of gummies\u201d) and watching the \u201cCamp Miasma\u201d franchise in her juvenile matching pink silk pajamas and bunny slippers than having sex anyway, or so she thinks. This is Einbinder\u2019s career-best work, and after this, I\u2019m convinced she\u2019s one of the most exciting performers to watch right now.<\/p>\n

Like so many of those life-changing late-night watches that introduced us to the horror genre, Schoenbrun\u2019s latest is one that will be on my mind for a while. Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma is a funny, sexy, and wildly subversive masterpiece that understands why we keep coming back to slasher films in the first place. MUBI, I\u2019d better see that Little Death pinball machine in my local dive bar ASAP.<\/p>\n

Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma\u00a0was reviewed at Fantasia and will be released in theaters from MUBI on\u00a0August 7, 2026<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n