Movie Review: ‘Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma’

I have been stressing about what to write for this review. Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma is so good I don’t even know where to start.

Let’s start with the summary. Kris (Hannah Einbinder) is a filmmaker who is the hot new name on the street due to her short film taking in the Psycho shower scene from the point of view of the shower curtain. She has been charged with rebooting the Camp Miasma franchise, an 80s horror movie series Kris has been a huge fan of. Kris wants to include Billy Preston (Gillian Anderson), the iconic final girl who only ever appeared in the first Camp Miasma. She finds her living in the middle of nowhere, which happens to be the original camp they shot Camp Miasma at. Kris goes to visit, and spend some time with Billy, alone, at the snowed-in camp.

That’s pretty much the story. We get to see a lot of the movie, which Kris and Billy watch together. We get to meet Little Death, the serial killer with a giant air vent on his head. I want to be careful because I am not sure how much is going to be a spoiler, but it is fair to say that the story deals with a lot of fears, insecurities, joy, and candy. 

I admit, I have been a die-hard Gillian Anderson fan since The X-Files days, so this film hit me a little bit more personally than most. Director Jane Schoenbrun has a deft hand when it comes to queer sexuality, and it is handled beautifully, in a gentle way that is non-confrontational. 

For you horror lovers, there is a good amount of gore, though it is done with a lot of humor, like butting off a head ends up with a remarkable gush of blood, something that is definitely not realistic in any way. But don’t worry: there are no “jump scares” or anything that would scare people away from a traditional horror movie. There are a lot of laughs to be had in general. 

I don’t know what else to say about Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma. I absolutely loved it, and have my tickets picked out for this weekend. It is an engaging film, one that will be studied in queer film classes for years to come.

Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma hits theaters on August 7th