Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma: Movie Review

Cast: Hannah Einbender, Gillian Anderson, Jack Haven, Dylan Baker, Amanda Fix
Director: Jane Schoenbrun

Director Jane Schoenbrun's debut, I Saw The TV Glow, may have been a solipsistic meander through an obsession with teenage shows, but while Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma maintains some of that aesthetic, there's more of a sense of an experience here, albeit one that occasionally frustrates.

Throwing in meta commentary on how Hollywood pursues new talent after their success, it follows Hacks star Hannah Einbender's wunderkind director Kris, who's been given the chance to revamp the 80s schlocky horror franchise Camp Miasma. The first film, starring a killer called Little Death who goes on a rampage at Camp Miasma, was a massive hit, spawning a slew of sequels that played to diminishing box office and creative returns.

However, Kris' desire to revamp the franchise she loved when she was young hangs on the fact she wants to recast the first film's Final Girl, Billy (Gillian Anderson, doing her best Blanche Dubois) who's become a virtual recluse. So Kris treks to Camp Tivoli, the original setting for the film, where Billy's now holed up, hoping to get her to return.

Drawing on their own life to great extent works minor miracles for Schoenbrun but conversely, it also stops the film garnering a wider audience outside of young hipsters and film nerds who will fall over every single hidden reference.

Most of the film feels like it's stuck in its lead's head and dealing with the kind of crippling self-doubt which comes with imposter syndrome, even if Schoenbrun deepens some of the issues by adding in further factors.

But it all contributes to an almost ethereal film that wafts in and out of its own references, complete with some impressively accurate recreations of the 1980s horror film genre. Yes, there's plenty of desire afoot here and even Little Death is a coded allegory for orgasm, something which both Billy and Kris have issues and fascinations with.

Yet, at its heart, Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma is blessed by two incredible lead performances, who command the screen for pretty much the entirety of its run time. While they negotiate fantasy worlds, something which covers most of the film, complete with painted backgrounds, they're never anything less than compelling to watch.

Whether it's Einbender's awkwardness at life (which mirrors Schoenbrun's own life experiences) or Anderson's world weariness at how the Hollywood machine treated here, there's a depth here that proves to be the film's selling point, papering over moments when the waif-like nature of the movie threatens to take you out of it.

How much you'll get out of Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma depends on how much you want to invest - it's a engagingly and deliberately offbeat movie to behold and experience, but one that never quite manages to elevate itself beyond its singular vision and obsessions.