A stunning debut that mixes body horror, Lord of the Flies, and the twinned empathy and power of being a teenage boy.
At all-boys water polo camp, a 12-year-old boy is pulled into a cruel tradition called The Plague, which targets an outcast with an "illness." As the lines between game and reality blur, he fears the joke may be hiding something real. IndieWire's Critics' Pic; Official Selection of the Cannes Film Festival; Fantastic Fest Best Picture Winner; nominated for Best Feature, Best Lead Performance, and Best Breakthrough Performance at the 2025 Independent Spirit Awards. [98 min; drama, thriller; English]
"An auspicious debut...technically ambitious and fiercely observant of adolescent anxieties." — Little White Lies
"Has a familiar coming-of-age narrative, but stranger, subtler undercurrents of creeping dismay at the men these boys will become.” — Variety
"This is a deeply emotional film in high concept clothing, coded to resonate with those of us wellversed in the instinct to betray ourselves in order to be accepted." — Sophie Monks Kaufman, IndieWire
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