The Plague – first-look review

To stand out as a teenager is to make yourself a target. The pack mentality that dominates most group settings for children renders conformity a survival imperative; Ben (Everett Blunck) understands this as a recent Boston transplant attending the Tom Lerner Water Polo Academy for the first time. He instantly notices that the rambunctious Jake (Kayo Martin) is the ringleader in their small all-male cohort, and the quiet Eli (Kenny Rasmussen) is the designated punching bag. Owing to a skin condition, Jake and his cronies have started a rumour that Eli has a contagious plague and continually ostracise him, yet Eli, at least on the surface, appears strangely unbothered by their bullying. Is his apparent placidity a symptom of his illness? Jake and co certainly believe so, while their well-meaning coach (a masterful performance of ineffectualness by Joel Edgerton) remains relatively ignorant to the barbaric interpersonal dynamics of his young wards.

Charlie Polinger’s feature debut deftly  navigates the excruciating tensions of preteendom, but The Plague also captures something less overtly explored in cinema: the difficulty of navigating the world as a neurodivergent individual. Eli’s exclusion from the group due to his perceived difference is the more obvious part of this narrative, but Jake’s frustration at (and perhaps envy of) Eli’s refusal to conform is key to the story’s freshness. This illuminates a rarely discussed part of the neurodivergent experience, revealing the complex intersection of lower and higher support needs, yet this specificity is not exclusory; anyone who has experienced or indeed observed the social pecking order of childhood will likely recognise some element of The Plague, particularly given the stellar performances Polinger has captured from his young cast.

Taking a few cues from Julia Ducournau’s Raw and Bo Burnham’s Eighth Grade with a shade of Josephine Decker’s Madeline’s Madeline in its frantic, breathy sound design, a palette dominated by greens, blues, browns and greys creates a claustrophobic atmosphere in which a pubescent blow-up never feels very far away. It’s an impressive addition to the coming-of-age canon, a modern take on ‘Lord of the Flies’ that doesn’t pull its punches. While the lack of adult oversight for these feral pre-teens may raise an eyebrow, Polinger positions the audience squarely at eye level, and as a youngster it really can feel like you’re totally alone even surrounded by supposedly responsible adults. Yet Polinger also resists the temptation to offer trite messages of support or overt self-acceptance; the film’s conclusion stings like the chlorinated pool water the group spend hours splashing around in.

It’s an auspicious debut for Polinger, technically ambitious and fiercely observant of adolescent anxieties. Sink or swim, the scars of childhood last much longer than any summer school.

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