The film follows a filmmaker who is given the chance to reboot a once popular horror film franchise as she seeks the reclusive star of the first film to star in the new reboot. It is a film that follows this woman who not only want to do something new to a film franchise she loved but also update it to be in more in line with today’s views as the franchise had issues in relation to a transgender killer known as Little Death. Jane Schoenbrun’s screenplay explores a film franchise known as Camp Miasma where it an 80s slasher film set in a camp where camp counselors get killed by this mysterious killer known as Little Death who wreaks havoc on everyone as the killer had been drowned to death by campers because the person was transgender. For its new director Kris Williams (Hannah Einbinder), she is an enthusiastic fan of the first film as she also knows the franchise as she also wants to fix the franchise to be more palatable towards today’s audiences.
One of Williams’ ideas in rebooting the film is to find the first film’s final girl played by Billy Presley (Amanda Fix) who disappeared after the film’s release. After discovering her whereabouts, Williams meets the reclusive Billy (Gillian Anderson) who has been living on the set where Camp Miasma had been filmed as Billy is intrigued by Williams’ pitch as it leads to stories about Billy’s time making the film where she showed Williams her own print of the first film. For Williams, she would reveal her own sexual desires as she starts to fall for Billy while learning the origins of Little Death who was this transgender camper that wants to kill everyone and only comes out of the water when it is hungry for more.
Schoenbrun’s direction is stylish from the opening of the film where it shows video footage of a crew making Camp Miasma as it then leads to a shot in the film where Little Death kills a couple. Shot on location in British Columbia to play into the Pacific Northwest setting of where Camp Miasma was shot. Schoenbrun creates this weird world where the first act has this sense of hyper-realism in the world that Williams lives in as it is colorful and vibrant, but it is a stark contrast to the world of Camp Miasma and the world that Billy lives in. It is a world that has this air of artificiality that plays into a world that Billy prefers instead of what is happening in the real world. Schoenbrun’s direction also has this inspired usage of the split diopter shots where one character is in the foreground with another character in the background. It adds to some of the dramatic tension and romanticism as it relates to Williams own fascination towards Billy. Even as Billy show her a different cut of Camp Miasma that adds a lot of intrigue to the lore of Little Death.
The scenes in Camp Miasma are presented in a typical 1980s style in terms of its compositions with the usage of wide and medium shots to set a tone of how characters interact with one another as well as to build suspense. Most notably a sequence where Little Death would come out of the water and kill people where it is presented in an unbroken tracking shot with different close-ups and point-of-view shots as it plays into the moment where Billy’s character becomes the final girl. Schoenbrun also plays into the world of fantasy in its third function as it relates to Williams’ own sexual desires though it is considered unfitting with today’s view of morality. Schoenbrun also play up the element of surrealism in the final function as well as making fun of the tropes expected in a slasher film. Overall, Schoenbrun crafts a provocative and witty film about a queer filmmaker trying to pitch a reclusive actress into starring a slasher film reboot.
Cinematographer Eric Yue does brilliant work with the film’s cinematography with its usage of low-key lighting for the interior/exterior scenes at night as well as natural lighting for the daytime scenes at Billy’s cabin as well as some vibrant colors for some of the daytime exterior scenes. Editor Graham Mason does excellent work with the editing with its usage of jump-cuts and knowing when not to cut as well as some usage of slow-motion edits to play into Williams’ fantasy. Production designers Matt Hyland and Brandon Tonner-Connolly, along with set decorator Hana Cook and art director Courtney Stockstad, do amazing work with the look of Billy’s cabin as well as Camp Miasma and the sets in the Camp Miasma movie. Costume designer Kendra Terpenning does fantastic work with the costumes in the stylish clothing that Billy wears as well as the 80s-style clothing of the characters in the Camp Miasma film.
Makeup effects designer Werner Pretorius does terrific work with the look of some of the characters including the counselors in the slasher film as well as the design of some of the gore including in some of the kill scenes. Visual effects supervisor Fenner Rockliffe does incredible work with the special effects in the look of Camp Miasma in how Billy sees it and the usage of gore that occurs throughout the film. Sound designer Tim Korn does superb work with the sound in how Little Death appears from his/her view as well as sparse sound effects that add to the sense of horror and dark comedy. The film’s music by Alex G is wonderful for its eerie electronic score that play into the suspense and horror as well as playing up to the style of 80s slasher films while music supervisors Scotty Taylor and Menno Versteeg create a fun soundtrack that includes music from R.E.M., Counting Crows, Donna Lewis, M83, Sade, Andy Shauf, Sally Shapiro, Sergei Stern, Mark Maxwell, and Okay Kaya doing a synth-pop cover of the R.E.M. song Nightswimming in the film’s opening credits.
The casting by Courtney Bright, Nicole Daniels, Errin Lally, and Annalese Tilling is phenomenal as it feature some notable small roles from Freya Edwards as young Kris, Jess McLeod and Louise Weard as a couple of studio officials with the latter being a queer assistant, Dylan Baker as a top studio executive, Kevin MacDonald as a hotel clerk in Anthony who appeared in the first Camp Miasma as a country sheriff, Patrick Fischler as a gas station clerk in Camp Miasma, Aren Buchholz as a partner that Kris’ girlfriend is dating, Jasmin Savoy Brown as Kris’ girlfriend Mari who is not interested in monogamy, and Sarah Sherman in a hilarious performance as Kris’ agent who always like to say some profane shit.
For the ensemble in the Camp Miasma film, there is Zach Cherry as the camp counselor Will, Eva Victor as a camp counselor in the punk DJ Ella Giastic, Quintessa Swindell as a friend of Billy’s character, Arthur Conti as Billy’s character’s love interest, and Amanda Fix in an excellent performance as Billy’s character as a young woman that would be the final girl in the first film. Jack Haven is brilliant in the role of the film franchise killer known as Little Death as this transgender camper who would wear a giant metal thing on its head while killing a bunch of people. Haven may not say anything as he/she is more of a presence, yet Haven does manage to make this mysterious character to be an interesting figure that also deserves sympathy over the transphobic message that the first film implied.
Gillian Anderson is great as Billy Presley as a reclusive film star who is unsure about returning to the film franchise where she only did the first film. Anderson sports a Southern accent that is intoxicating to listen to as she is also someone filled with ambiguity and intrigue as it is one of Anderson’s finest performances. Finally, there is Hannah Einbinder in a tremendous performance as the queer filmmaker Kris Williams as someone who has a love for the film franchise and Presley where she wants to update and bring something new while is also gaining a sexual awakening in her time with Presley. It is a performance where Einbinder brings a complexity of someone whose fantasy is considered misogynistic yet there is something entrancing in what Williams wants as it also plays into a woman trying to find herself through her love of horror, candy, and dipping sauce.
Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma is a spectacular film by Jane Schoenbrun that features sensational performances from Hannah Einbinder and Gillian Anderson. Along with its colorful visuals, study of sexuality and horror film tropes, mixture of humor and suspense, and a rapturous music soundtrack. It is a film that is not afraid to be provocative in its exploration of slasher films as well as make fun of its tropes while allowing a young woman wanting to bring something new to a franchise while experiencing her own sexual awakening. In the end, Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma is a tremendous film by Jane Schoenbrun.
Jane Schoenbrun Films: (We’re All Going to the World’s Fair) – (I Saw the TV Glow)
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