We’re already over halfway through the 2026 movie schedule, and I have my favorites, and then there’s Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma. I knew I had to see it because I haven’t been able to shake off writer/director Jane Schoenbrun’s I Saw The TV Glow since it came out in 2024. But, wow, did this movie out-weird this year of films in the best way! I need to talk about it.
Where Do I Even Start To Explain Camp Miasma?
On the surface level, Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma’s premise really intrigued me. I knew it was about a queer filmmaker, Kris (Hannah Einbinder), who is hired to revitalize a fictional beloved slasher franchise. She decides to pay the movie’s original final girl, Billy Presley (Gillian Anderson), a visit. The trailer had a dreamlike quality to it too that really interested me. On its face, I figured it would be an artsy horror-learning LGBTQ+ movie, but there’s a lot more going on with it.
I’ve had a difficult time explaining it to other people because it doesn’t neatly fit in one genre at all. Camp Miasma is so many things at once, and I’m honestly amazed at how well it executes its balance between being them all. It’s not a horror movie, but it’s definitely an examination of the slasher side of the genre. It’s got romance, but it feels more like a feverish sex dream than a pure love story. It’s definitely a comedy, but there’s something really guttural about the emotional journey it takes you on, too. You see my problem? It’s definitely the weirdest movie of 2026 I’ve seen, though, and when I say that, it’s definitely a compliment.
I Know This For Sure: I’m Never Going To Think About Slashers The Same Again
I’m not going to talk about spoilers, but I do want to delve a bit more into how Camp Miasma made me feel, because I honestly can’t stop thinking about it. At the movie’s core, Schoenbrun is examining the inherently freaky connection between desire and death through the lens of slasher films. And, not in a “cool, but I don’t get it” way, but a soul-bearing, honest way.
Like, why are slasher movies always trying to be sexy? And why does it make sense that they are? It’s something that I’ve never thought deeply about – it’s just been a truth in the genre. As Kris tries to uncover what she wants to bring to her reboot of Camp Miasma while staying with Billy, she starts to explore how desire and fantasy have been so entangled with her longtime interest in the franchise.
Before I saw it, I didn’t get the title, but the addition of “teenage sex and death” to its name is really necessary to explain it. It gets into why both sex and death are both these visceral experiences, and actually quite similar to each other. And, there’s also quite a lot to say about intimacy anxiety that I’ve never seen a movie tackle like this before.
Then, there’s the originality of it all. I can honestly say that Jane Schoenbrun has carved their own place in filmmaking, and has a perspective that I’ve never seen before in movies. Camp Miasma isn’t a big studio film, and you feel that, but there’s something really accessible about it too that I was thrilled by.
Like, truly, I don’t think anyone but Schoenbrun could have made this, and that’s so preciously rare to find. It’s also certainly a reminder why having transgender representation is so needed in Hollywood. And, further proof that the queer experience can and does uncover a lot of universal ideas we’ve yet to see on the big screen.
Anyways, I’m certainly not the only person who’s raving about Camp Miasma. The movie is receiving a lot of high praise from audiences and critics alike, who’ve called it a “bountiful meal of pleasure and excess on an arthouse silver platter” and “heartfelt, but whimsical”. You can check it out for yourself in theaters now.
