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A deeply metatextual twist on the traditional slasher film, Jane Schoenbrun鈥檚聽Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma聽is one of the most psychologically intriguing horror films of the 2020s so far.

The word 鈥楲ynchian鈥� is thrown around a lot, but Schoenbrun鈥檚 work here feels genuinely evocative of the late master filmmaker without feeling derivative. Anchored by sensational lead performances from Hannah Einbinder and Gillian Anderson,聽Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma聽is a rich thematic work with commentary about the conventions of horror, artistic creation, and the role of desire in both.

The 鈥楥amp Miasma鈥� franchise is an ailing, problematic horror franchise that queer filmmaker Kris (Einbinder) has been given the task to remake for contemporary audiences. Her goal? To retell the story of 鈥楲ittle Death鈥� (Jack Haven), the franchise鈥檚 villain without all the problematic transphobia and homophobia.

In her creative pursuit, she tracks down original final girl Billy Preston (Anderson) to ask her to star in this new imagining. On the original campsite where Camp Miasma was shot and where Billy lives, the two immediately have a strange chemistry as they discuss all things Miasma. Soon, they embark on a psychosexual odyssey of self-discovery that allows them to trace the outline of desire, genre and each other.

础濒迟丑辞耻驳丑听I Saw The TV Glow聽is an incredible depiction of the trans experience through a horror lens,聽Camp Miasma聽feels like an even more personal film for Schoenbrun. At many points, it feels like a way for them to explore how they feel about the genre through the character of Kris, who鈥檚 also a queer filmmaker working within the confines of horror and relatively large budgets.

Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma聽fascinates with its commentary

Kris is a properly fascinating character, portrayed wonderfully by Hannah Einbinder as a person trying to figure out exactly how she feels about what her own relationship to horror means for her feelings of desire for Billy. She鈥檚 played by an equally remarkable Gillian Anderson, playing her reclusive former actress with incredible charm and a surprising amount of humour 鈥� this film is also really funny!

But although Kris and Billy are of different generations, I found their shared bond all about dancing along the knife鈥檚 edge of desire 鈥� queer and otherwise 鈥� utterly fascinating. Their shared dichotomy of attempting to understand the dichotomy between their personal desire and what鈥檚 considered 鈥渞ight鈥� mirrors our own relationship to horror films 鈥� what does it mean for us that we find pleasure in such misery?

I won鈥檛 spoil exactly how crazy the last stretch of聽Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma gets, but Schoenbrun takes the viewer to a truly cerebral place as the film carries on. Much of it is quite surreal and beyond any sort of easy understanding (hence the Lynchian descriptor) but it鈥檚 all presented with such sincerity that it鈥檚 a fascinating film to continue chewing on after the credits roll.

Pair that with some sensational filmmaking that shows a real knowledge and mastery over slasher movie aesthetics, and聽Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma聽is a fascinating, beautiful and unabashedly queer film about the genre itself. If you鈥檙e a fan of horror, queer cinema and/or the work of David Lynch, then Jane Schoenbrun鈥檚 latest is your latest must-see for 2026.

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Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma聽is playing at Sydney Film Festival before playing in Australian theatres on August 6th.聽