Review #40 - Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma (2026)

Total Score: 13/23.

I went into this film damn near blind. I knew the premise, loosely, and I thought the title was superb. Miasma is a fantastic name for a sleepaway camp.

I came out of TSDCM reeling. My exact words:

“Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma (2026) was bizarre. Almost Lynchian, or a psychosexual The Cabin in the Woods (2011).”

I stand by this now I’ve had a day to process.

I think it’s worth mentioning I haven’t seen any of Jane Schoenbrun’s other filmography, though they certainly have made a splash in horror circles. It seems to me though that this most recent flick is very personal, and perhaps semiautobiographical in some fashion - and it is all the richer for it.

I fucking loved the opening sequence, and was actively grinning while watching. The arcade game, the many VHS boxes, the gimmicky cashgrab toys, it all just felt like a warm hug to the horror genre, you know? Was I there for this time in the real world? No - but it felt familiar and I appreciated it. Gave me hope I was in for a good time, yaknow?

On this note, the movie is fucking flooded with references, which is great. I was surprised not to catch a NOES2 mention, but thrilled to see some love for Sleepaway Camp - which is the most directly referenced.

TSDCM is very fun, and hilarious, but gets progressively weirder and weirder until you begin to wonder what the hell you’re watching. It vaguely put me in mind of shit like Being John Malkovich (1999) and Mulholland Drive (2001), dreamlike and unsettling imagery and a heavy focus on interrogating deeper themes.

The two central performances were great. The stilted awkwardness of Kris against the effortless charm of Billy made for an extremely watchable dynamic. I’ve seen few queer relationships in horror (the modern iterations of Lestat and Louis come to mind) but this seemed pretty damn well done - though I’m not really the person to comment.

The film toes a thin line between sexy and borderline sleazy, in my book, and I was surprised it was rated 15 in the UK. That aside, it was a deeply sexual film, and while I would’ve known this if I’d seen the trailer, going in unaware it came as a bit of a shock. It made for very interesting watching though, as asexuality, trauma, and even polyamory were touched on - though some more than others. It felt like a film for now, and I appreciated it for that. Also, I enjoyed Little Death as a pun.

What did surprise me was the joking at “elevated horror”, only for the film to kinda slip into that itself. And by that I mean, strange, weird, and ambiguous.

The violence was cartoony, and, not to be a killjoy, but I kinda didn’t love it. I think I set my heart on it being splattery in a less visually wacky capacity. The whole musical murder sequence didn’t do it for me, though I can (loosely) appreciate it from a film-making capacity. I did enjoy the coated-in-blood scenes at the end though!

TSDCM is definitely a The Cabin in the Woods (2011) for the 2020s, though. Is it as good? For me, no. But it has its moments, and it’s going for a very different tone and atmosphere. I enjoyed it, I think, and I look forward to reading everyone’s thoughts.

Also, two random notes:

1. The running through the woods scene was funny as fuck - great stuff.

2. The painted backdrop and endless drawings and paintings were super cool. Spooky and weird.

Overall, a fun watch, and one I’ll eventually revisit. It was a rollercoaster.

As ever, thanks for reading,

Until next time,

H.E.