Joel Edgerton in Charlie Polinger’s 'The Plague'. Courtesy of Steven Breckon. An Independent Film Company release.

Joel Edgerton in Charlie Polinger’s 'The Plague'. Courtesy of Steven Breckon. An Independent Film Company release.

Opening in wide release in theaters on January 2 is ‘The Plague,’ written and directed by Charlie Polinger and starring Joel Edgerton, Everett Blunck, Kayo Martin, Kenny Rasmussen, Lennox Espy, and Lucas Adler.

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Initial Thoughts

(L to R) Everett Blunck and Joel Edgerton in Charlie Polinger’s 'The Plague'. Courtesy of Steven Breckon. An Independent Film Company release.

(L to R) Everett Blunck and Joel Edgerton in Charlie Polinger’s 'The Plague'. Courtesy of Steven Breckon. An Independent Film Company release.

Arriving literally at the tail end of 2025 (and expanding right after the New Year), ‘The Plague’ is one of the year’s most original and thoroughly unsettling movies.

It’s not horror, not exactly, but it has a thick atmosphere of dread and disquiet to rival more conventional genre offerings. In fact, ‘The Plague’ is almost indescribable, but calling it a mix of psychological thriller and twisted coming-of-age drama wouldn’t be far off the mark – and it’s an unnervingly winning combination in the hands of Charlie Polinger, making his feature writing and directing debut, and an outstanding cast of boys.

Story and Direction

Joel Edgerton in Charlie Polinger’s 'The Plague'. Courtesy of Steven Breckon. An Independent Film Company release.

Joel Edgerton in Charlie Polinger’s 'The Plague'. Courtesy of Steven Breckon. An Independent Film Company release.

It’s the summer of 2003 and socially awkward, 12-year-old Ben (Everett Blunck) arrives at the Tom Lerman Water Polo Club for camp, the victim of – we find out a little later – a bad divorce and parental neglect. Desperate to fit in with the pack of ‘cool’ boys led by the sneering, mean-spirited Jake (Kayo Martin), Everett learns about a ‘game’ called ‘The Plague,’ in which an outcast kid named Eli (Kenny Rasmussen) is the object of derision because of an inexplicable explosion of an acne-like rash across his face, arms, and back.

If you go near Eli, interact with him, or especially touch him, you could catch the ‘Plague’ yourself, and while no one really believes this is the case, it makes the misfit, oddball kid the perfect scapegoat and target that all clusters of young boys seem to need. But when the decent-minded, innocent Ben tries to build a friendship with Eli, the torments escalate and threaten to encompass him as well.

What sounds like a grimmer than usual coming-of-age story about pre-teen males and their rites of passage takes on an even darker shade, thanks to the meanness and feral intensity of the boys, the nature of Eli’s affliction (which is never explained), and the imagery that Polinger and DP Steven Breckon bring to the fore.

(L to R) Kayo Martin, Caden Burris, and Lennox Espy in Charlie Polinger’s 'The Plague'. Courtesy of Steven Breckon. An Independent Film Company release.

(L to R) Kayo Martin, Caden Burris, and Lennox Espy in Charlie Polinger’s 'The Plague'. Courtesy of Steven Breckon. An Independent Film Company release.

The camp itself is mostly indoors, making it seem more like a lab than a camp, and the nighttime scenes turn it into a haunted house of dark, winding corridors. The pool scenes have a shimmery cast to them, flashes of red from above symbolizing the metaphorical blood in the water. Polinger and Breckon shoot the water polo scenes from below, highlighting the violent thrashing of the boys’ bodies.

And let’s not forget the burrowing-under-the-skin sound design by Damian Volpe and the ghostly mix of percussion and tribal voices that make up Johan Lenox’s score, one of the most striking of the year. It all coheres into an immersive yet oppressive experience, emphasizing the central conflict – which starts right here in childhood – between wanting to conform and needing to express one’s true self, the latter of which can carry grave consequences.

Cast and Performances

Kenny Rasmussen in Charlie Polinger’s 'The Plague'. Courtesy of Steven Breckon. An Independent Film Company release.

Kenny Rasmussen in Charlie Polinger’s 'The Plague'. Courtesy of Steven Breckon. An Independent Film Company release.

Joel Edgerton (who helped Polinger get the film on the launchpad and is listed as a producer) is the nominal star here as the coach, Daddy Wags, and he brings the perfect balance of gruff taskmaster and big brother to a man who is clearly not especially bright and in over his head (no pun intended) with this bunch of kids. But as strong of an anchor as Edgerton is, the real stars here are the trio of young leads.

Everett Blunck is both sensitive and enigmatic as Ben, his genuine empathy and decency in direct conflict with his broken heart and his need to belong. As the vicious Jake, alpha leader of the pack, Kayo Martin has a face on which cruelty and good humor can virtually pass for each other – he’s always calculating how to wring the most pain out of any scenario for his target.

And then there’s Kenny Rasmussen. In his screen debut, Rasmussen keeps the viewer off-balance throughout – one never knows if Eli is having a joke at everyone’s expense or likely to slaughter his campmates without hesitation (he’s also got that Stanley Kubrick stare – made famous by Jack Nicholson in ‘The Shining’ and Vincent D’Onofrio in ‘Full Metal Jacket’ – down cold). His slightly lower voice adds an eerie effect to his performance as well, which is simply stunning.

Final Thoughts

(L to R) Everett Blunck, Kayo Martin, Caden Burris, and Lennox Espy in Charlie Polinger’s 'The Plague'. Courtesy of Steven Breckon. An Independent Film Company release.

(L to R) Everett Blunck, Kayo Martin, Caden Burris, and Lennox Espy in Charlie Polinger’s 'The Plague'. Courtesy of Steven Breckon. An Independent Film Company release.

‘The Plague’ is the kind of film that should – and hopefully will – not just catch on with audiences but spark discussion and debate over its meaning and themes. Its gang of restless, awkward, horny malcontents on the edge of adolescence, with all their cruelty, vindictiveness, and surly shame, could be a metaphor for the toxic masculinity making a comeback in society like a band no one wanted to see reunite.

Or they could just be a pack of little boys who don’t know how to handle the strange things bursting from their bodies and are unable to be at ease with their real selves. Either way, ‘The Plague,’ its surreal imagery and sound, its discomforting performances, and its nerve-rending score will leave you wondering exactly what kind of little monsters we’re raising.

‘The Plague’ receives a score of 90 out of 100.

Everett Blunck in Charlie Polinger’s 'The Plague'. Courtesy of Steven Breckon. An Independent Film Company release.

Everett Blunck in Charlie Polinger’s 'The Plague'. Courtesy of Steven Breckon. An Independent Film Company release.

What is the plot of ‘The Plague’?

A socially anxious 12-year-old boy is pulled into a cruel tradition at an all-boys’ water polo camp, with harrowing consequences for him and the object of the other boys’ derision as the line between the game and reality blur.

Who is in the cast of ‘The Plague’?

  • Joel Edgerton as Daddy Wags
  • Everett Blunck as Ben
  • Kayo Martin as Jake
  • Kenny Rasmussen as Eli
  • Lennox Espy as Julian
  • Lucas Adler as Logan
  • Elliott Heffernan as Tic Tac
  • Caden Burris as Matt
  • Kolton Lee as Corbin

Everett Blunck in Charlie Polinger’s 'The Plague'. Courtesy of Steven Breckon. An Independent Film Company release.

Everett Blunck in Charlie Polinger’s 'The Plague'. Courtesy of Steven Breckon. An Independent Film Company release.

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