Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma is funny and satirical but also delivers a message – it is highly recommended.
Winner of the Queer Palm at the 2026 Cannes Film Festival, Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma is a gloriously over-the-top satire of the slasher/horror genre with many moments of excessive blood gushing hilarity.
The story of Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma centres on Kris (Hannah Einbinder) who is tasked with reviving the slasher/horror franchise ‘Camp Miasma’ which had suffered from a long line of terrible sequels and has now been dormant for some time. The ‘Camp Miasma’ films featured Little Death (Jack Haven) as the gender-fluid killer. The original ‘Camp Miasma’ films also included extravagantly blood gushing murders.
Kris is fascinated with the original ‘Camp Miasma’ films and a gay successful filmmaker who travels in thick snow to find Billy Presley (Gillian Anderson) who was the ‘final girl’ in the original ‘Camp Miasma’ film to convince her to return for the new film. Billy has become a recluse and has been missing from the public view for a long time. Kris finds Billy in the camp grounds where the original film was shot living as a tragic faded screen queen.
As Kris tries to convince Billy to return to the franchise things start to become outrageously fantastic and wild.
Director and screenwriter Jane Schoenbrun superbly handles the crossovers between the film within the film, Kris’s memories and the developing action. Her script is cleverly entertaining while also offering a brilliant insight into queer identity issues and sexuality in addition to being, at times, excellently funny.
Eric Yue’s cinematography is sublime creating a dreamlike quality to some scenes and is helped by ever present deep snow adding an extra layer of unreality.
Einbiner is superb as her character Kris grows from being bookish and awkward to where she finishes at the end of the film. Andersen as the tragic faded screen queen is similarly outstanding. The rest of the cast also add magnificently to the remarkable events.
Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma is funny and satirical but also delivers a message – it is highly recommended.
Reviewed by Rob McKinnon
Rating 4.5 out of 5
Distributor: Madman Films
