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Summary In the summer of 2003 at an all-boys water polo camp, a socially anxious twelve-year-old is pulled into a cruel tradition targeting an outcast with an illness they call “The Plague.” But as the lines between game and reality blur, he fears the joke might be hiding something real.
Directed By: Charlie Polinger
Written By: Charlie Polinger
The Plague
68
User Score User reviews are not available yet
tbd
Summary In the summer of 2003 at an all-boys water polo camp, a socially anxious twelve-year-old is pulled into a cruel tradition targeting an outcast with an illness they call “The Plague.” But as the lines between game and reality blur, he fears the joke might be hiding something real.
Directed By: Charlie Polinger
Written By: Charlie Polinger
Top Cast
Metascore
Generally Favorable Based on 6 Critic Reviews
68
83% Positive
5 Reviews
5 Reviews
17% Mixed
1 Review
1 Review
0% Negative
0 Reviews
0 Reviews
Metascore
Generally Favorable Based on 6 Critic Reviews
68
83% Positive
5 Reviews
5 Reviews
17% Mixed
1 Review
1 Review
0% Negative
0 Reviews
0 Reviews
Nov 5, 2025
This is a deeply emotional film in high concept clothing, coded to resonate with those of us well-versed in the instinct to betray ourselves in order to be accepted.
Nov 6, 2025
Charlie Polinger opens his thrilling and uneasy directorial debut feature The Plague with an arresting sequence that quickly establishes the haunting undertones of this adolescent psychological thriller.
Nov 5, 2025
The film’s relentless narrative is expertly performed by a cast of newcomer talent who empathetically portray its heavy subject matter with deliberate psychological intensity.
By David Cuevas FULL REVIEW
Nov 6, 2025
Drawn from experience and benefiting from some standout performances among its well-selected young cast, The Plague has a familiar coming-of-age narrative, but stranger, subtler undercurrents of creeping dismay at the men these boys will become when, at this formative age, cruelty chlorinates the water they swim in.
Nov 6, 2025
The film has much to say about peer pressure and male rites of passage, although Polinger’s points can become repetitive and his insights not especially deep. Still, this uneven mixture of coming-of-age drama and psychological horror suggests a filmmaker with a flair for unsettling atmosphere.
Nov 5, 2025
The Plague is a movie-movie, rather than a genuinely searching or affecting film about that most awkward age when fitting in with a group can seem like the most important thing in the world.
User Reviews
tbd
Production Company
- Doublethink
- Five Henrys
- Imagenation Abu Dhabi FZ
- Spooky Pictures
- The Space Program
Release Date Dec 24, 2025
Duration 1 h 35 m
Rating R
Tagline Selected for the 2025 Cannes Film Festival
Awards
Film Independent Spirit Awards
• 3 Nominations
Deauville Film Festival
• 2 Wins & 2 Nominations
Sitges - Catalonian International Film Festival
• 1 Win & 2 Nominations
