TEENAGE SEX AND DEATH AT CAMP MIASMA

 

When Jane Schoenbrun's latest film, “Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma” premiered at Cannes earlier this year, I assumed its inclusion on the MIFF programme was a full gone conclusion. However I soon noticed that it's Australian release date coincided with the opening night of MIFF, meaning there was no chance of it playing at the festival since it would already be out for general release. It also meant that I was going to have to find a gap within my MIFF schedule to be able to see “Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma”, which would be no easy task.

Being tasked with resurrecting the long dormant “Camp Miasma” slasher franchise, queer director Kris comes up with the idea to cast Billy Presley, the final girl of the original film in a key role in this new iteration. In an attempt to convince Billy, Kris sets up a meeting with her at the comfort of Billy's own home, which just happens to be the disused camp used as the setting for the original film. Upon meeting Billy, Kris finds the eccentric recluse to be more than a little out there and while trying to convince her to return for the newest installment of Little Death's massacre, Billy argues that rather than being just a movie character, Little Death was very real and was dying to come back, which sends both women down a rabbit hole of psychosexual thrills and kills.

One thing director Jane Schoenbrun is very good at is creating believable worlds around a certain product that she makes up. In her first film, “We're All Going to the World's Fair” it is a video game, in “I Saw the TV Glow” it is a long running Buffy-esque fantasy television show and here with “Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma” she has created a slasher film franchise. All of the incredible memorabilia and merchandise they have created for the franchise makes the “Camp Miasma” series so believable as a real franchise. Things like movie posters, videos, action figures, computer games, bubble-head toys, lunchboxes and arcade/pin ball machine have been put together so lovingly to create a believable world around these (made up) films, but all feel of the period and sufficiently banged up to look real and time ravaged. The amazing thing about this is this memorabilia is barely even glimpsed, only showing up in the film's opening credits, but again, they bring so much truth to the “Camp Miasma” franchise and just add to the atmosphere of “Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma” itself.

“Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma” sees director Jane Schoenbrun create a loving homage to the slasher films they grew up with whilst at the same time taking a pot shot at Hollywood executives who only want to revive dead IP franchises for the easy money (while never having any love for the franchises themselves), and then never wanting filmmakers to stray from the original formula by attempting something new or fresh. Schoenbrun also gets a kick out of mocking the “elevated” horror genre, by stating that they are only an academic exercise and usually miss the point of what horror films are really about: sex and death. Probably the most interesting thing about “Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma” is that despite all the blood and guts found within the film (and believe me, there is a lot), it is not really a horror film itself. Ultimately the film is about identity, transformation/rebirth (a key theme in all of Jane Schoenbrun's films), and whether or not you need to kill a part of yourself to be reborn again, as well as looking at why these types of films effect us the way that they do. Personally, I am not sure Schoenbrun is as successful at exploring these things as they were with the brilliant “I Saw the TV Glow”, as their latest film comes across at times as bloated and self indulgent and more than a little vague.

A large chunk of “Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma” revolves around Kris and Billy watching a 35mm print of the original “Camp Miasma” film, and the footage Schoenbrun has shot for the film-within-the-film is totally spot on. It was shot on real 35mm film itself and just looks exactly of the period, particularly the terrible eighties sportswear fashions. The lore of Little Death (the killer of the “Camp Miasma” franchise) is a mash-up of “Friday the 13th” (1980) and “Sleepaway Camp” (1983) but done with a loving respect to both franchises. Probably the most hilarious thing is the mask Little Death wears which is a square air-conditioning vent. It is probably the most absurd choice possible, but somehow it still works. While Schoenbrun has worked wonders in recreating the look of an 80's slasher film, sadly when it comes to the death scenes, they fail miserably by using CGI trickery instead of practical effects which was a huge part of horror films made in the 1980's. The much lauded one-shot Little Death massacre scene is also a major disappointment because from the design of the extended shot, it is all from Little Death's point of view, so we actually miss a lot of the graphic carnage being performed, as Little Death's “face” is regularly sprayed with copious amounts of blood, so we cannot see anything, with the victim then falling out of frame.

“Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma” is anchored by a wonderful lead performance from Hannah Einbinder who is both vulnerable and awkward as Kris, although I was less impressed by Gillian Anderson (as Billy) who appears to be doing her best Norma Desmond impression throughout but comes across far too goofy and aloof, giving her character no true gravitas. Like all of Jane Schoenbrun's films “Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma” eventually becomes a wild, hallucinatory experience as the real world and reel world begin to morph into one another and it is during this part where I feel the film loses it's way and becomes more than a little confusing. Schoenbrun is a director who wears their heart and influences on their sleeve and throughout their new film there are direct visual references (or homages) to the two Davids, Lynch and Cronenberg, and of course the “Friday the 13th” series, with the “Camp Miasma” series mirroring those of the Jason Voorhees franchise. One aspect of the film that I did love was the highlighting of the artificiality of movies with Schoenbrun really leaning into this by using obvious matte paintings for backgrounds and set extensions, and very clear sets filling in for “real”places.

One element of “Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma” that I didn't think worked that well was the sexual disappointment or repression of both Kris and Billy, and how being killed by Little Death or watching them murder someone, unlocks this mental block, resulting in a pure unadulterated orgasm. For me, I do not understand exactly what Schoenbrun is getting at here (at least after my first viewing) but believe there is some word play involved here. The French call an orgasm “la petite morte” which directly translates to The Little Death......which is the name of the franchise's killer. Maybe I am just naïve or slow, but I still do not understand the significance of DEATH=SEX in this context. In slasher films, one of the “rules” are that if you are promiscuous or have sex, you will be killed by the killer, which is sex=death, but here it is the opposite where if you die or watch someone die, it can unlock your sexuality. Hmmmm, I am still not convinced by this and think, while interesting, this part of the film needed more fleshing out to make more sense.

When I originally watched Schoenbrun's previous film, “I Saw The TV Glow”, I thought the film was good but nothing special, but it lived rent-free in my head for weeks after I saw it. I felt compelled to give it a re-watch and on my second viewing, it was like the film opened up to me and exposed all of it's secrets. Suddenly I was able to read all of the trans subtext which I was blind to originally and I saw the film in a completely different light. It became such a sad and tragic film and I ended up absolutely loving it! I say all of this because I am hoping a similar thing will occur with “Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma”; that deeper themes and meanings will reveal themselves, causing me to re-evaluate the film in a more positive light. However after my initial viewing, despite there being a lot of good within it, I will admit that I found “Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma” to be overlong, over indulgent and more than a little confusing. That said, I am a big fan of films that deal with the theme of identity which this one does, so I look forward to watching it again in the near future.

3 Stars.

 

MY WIFE CRIES - MIFF 2026

As per the MIFF guide: “At work one day, crane operator Thomas receives a call from his wife, Carla. She’s been in a car accident and needs him to pick her up. Arriving at the hospital, he finds her on a park bench outside, physically unharmed but crying inconsolably. Eventually, Carla confesses something about the specific circumstances of the accident, leaving Thomas shattered. This revelation leads both Thomas and Carla to share intimate conversations with friends and loved ones about the fragility of romantic relationships and the impossibility of ever truly knowing someone – even those with whom we share a life.”

After coming off of the high that was “Coyote vs. ACME”, a film that was filled with so much fun and entertainment, the very next session (and my penultimate for the film festival) turned out to be the nadir of my MIFF for 2026. I absolutely hated Angela Schanelec's “My Wife Cries” with a passion, and just could not see the point of it for the majority of it's running time. While I do own Schanelec's “I Was At Home, But” (2019) on blu ray (due to my absolute trust in Second Run's film curation), I have still yet to watch it, nor any other of her features prior to this new one, and only saw “My Wife Cries” because the MIFF guide suggested that the film should appeal to fans of Aki Kaurismaki, which I am one in a big way, but I was done dirty by the guide, as this film is nothing like the genius of that Finnish director.

Despite “My Wife Cries” being shot on 35mm film, I was immediately turned off by the film's ugly visual style and Schanelec's baffling decisions on some of her shot selections which looked very amateurish. We meet Thomas, a crane operator and one of our main characters, as his crane needs to fixed and he waits inside the company's office while this happens. Schanelec places Thomas against an off white wall, sitting on a basic chair as he drinks a cup of coffee, while office workers talk to him off camera about his life. It is one of the most ugly shots in cinema history, as there is no beauty anywhere to be found in it, and Schanelec stays on this shot for what seems like an eternity before she finally cuts to one of the people Thomas is talking to, but this is another equally awkwardly framed shot. I knew I was in trouble with “My Wife Cries” right then, or maybe it clouded my judgement on the film because this opening scene made me so angry. Throughout the film, it was like it was a deliberate choice to find the most inappropriate spot for the camera to go, or to make sure that each shot looked ugly. This is how I felt while watching “My Wife Cries”, but in preparation of writing this review, I re-watched the film's trailer and was surprised by how visually beautiful it looked, this is why I have added the caveat that this initial scene may have clouded how I saw the film.

The reason why I think the MIFF guide stated that fans of Aki Kaurismaki might get something out of “My Wife Cries” is because of the stylised acting style within the film. It lacks emotion, and dialogue is very stilted; this is not a realistic depiction of human behaviour at all. And that is fine, because as you can obviously guess, I find this stylisation works wonderfully well in Kaurismaki's films, but then his whole film is stylised, not just the dialogue. His version of Helsinki is not a true representation of that city, it is almost like Kaurismaki's own cinematic world. Schanelec on the other hand sets her story in a very real Germany, so the odd way people talk in her film just comes off feeling weird, because normal people do not talk like that. Also the conversations the friends all have between each other border on the boring to the nonsensical, as they attempt to be some kind of pseudo-philosophical crap about human relationships and what makes them work, but it just feels so fake and made up, not to mention, forced.

I just found “My Wife Cries” to be a very strange film, and not in a good way, because I am a fan of the unusual in cinema, but here it just felt like nothing worked, or even complimented each other. Because of the acting style in the film, and the performances from Vladimir Vulevic and Agathe Bonitzer (who play Thomas and Carla), I just found no emotion or care between this supposed married couple. Carla has gone through something horrific, which has exposed something bigger for the future of the couple, and yet you would not know it because of the way everyone acts. You would expect Thomas to show both care and anger, if not confusion, towards Carla but the stilted dialogue takes this all away, so we the audience also feel nothing about the drama unfolding onscreen in front of us. So much so, that my session did have a few walk-outs too; after awhile people had just had enough and left.

The other thing that really bothered me about “My Wife Cries” is that weird things just happened out of the blue sometimes. Carla, exhausted from her trauma ends up at a friend's place with Thomas and a group of friends. They are all engaging in conversations about the married couple's ordeal, when suddenly out of nowhere the friends all start doing a choreographed dance, each entering the dance one after the another until they are all dancing, except Carla who has fallen asleep on the couch. It is so strange, but paradoxically it was also my favourite scene in the film because I like a bit of dance in my movies, but where the hell did it come from?!? Also, for the whole entire scene, both before the dance and during, one of the characters is only wearing a towel. Okay, so he may have just gotten out of the shower, but the scene goes on forever.......PUT SOME CLOTHES ON!!!!! So weird.

The final straw though was the ending of “My Wife Cries” because it just stops, out of the blue. Thomas is walking his bike home, Carla is waiting for him on a bench outside, Thomas says some pointless dialogue, the film cuts to Carla who says nothing, and the film ends. Um, excuse me? I just sat through ninety plus minutes for nothing to be resolved and for the film to just end. And this was after Carla fondled some man's flaccid penis, it was hard to tell who but I think it was the guy in the towel, for no apparent reason too. I give up on this movie! It was absolutely terrible.

Overall, if you cannot tell already, I hated “My Wife Cries” and it was my least favourite film I saw at MIFF this year, and it was also the penultimate film I saw. The stylised acting removed all emotion from the film, so I found myself not being able to care one iota for the characters onscreen, not to mention I also thought that the film was extremely ugly from a visual sense. My final question though about “My Wife Cries” is, how does such a crap movie end up with such a beautiful movie poster?!? Baffling.

1.5 Stars.

THE SUN NEVER SETS - MIFF 2026

As per the MIFF guide: “Wendy is 31 years old and happily in love with Jack, a divorcee in his 40s. The only snag in their age-gap relationship: she wants to have children, but he doesn’t want more than the two he already has; he’s also leery of getting married again. Hoping to inspire her to outgrow those particular urges, Jack proposes a six-month break in which she might dive into the Anchorage dating pool. What he hasn’t accounted for is the reappearance of Wendy’s handsome ex, a pilot who may prove less flighty than he once was.”

Writer / director Joe Swanberg is a key figure of US independent cinema, particularly when it comes to the mumblecore genre, which are essentially no budget films, where scenerios were written about what a certain scene wanted to explore, and the actors filled that space with their own dialogue. They are highly improvisational, usually dialogue heavy, and not always the most cinematic of films due to their lack of budget. The positive of the mumblecore films is that they usually exhibit some form of human truth within them, and they feel very real. They are not for everyone, and I would say that I have a limited tolerance for them, although there are some quite good ones out there. Back in 2013, MIFF showed what was then Joe Swanberg's latest feature “Drinking Buddies”, but with this film he had something of a budget to work with, so it was a lot more polished than his previous films. I took a chance on seeing it, and absolutely fell in love with it, and the film even made my top ten of that year (it came in at #9). Strangely though, after being so impressed by “Drinking Buddies”, I haven't bothered to follow up on whatever Swanberg made after. “The Sun Never Sets” is Swanberg's brand new film, and his first in almost a decade, and is about the complexities of romantic relationships, and after I saw the trailer for it, I decided it was time for me to dip my toe in the Swanberg pool once more, and I am glad that I did because I had a really great time with “The Sun Never Sets”, even if it does have a few problems.

One of Swanberg's secret weapons in his films is actor Jake Johnson, who is something of a muse for the director, as he is often the star of his later films in particular. I have always loved Johnson's screen persona, as he always comes across as a real genuine guy, a lovable loser of sorts. His performances often have a lighter edge to them because he seems like a funny guy, he likes to laugh and enjoy himself, but he is always able to find the real human elements of any character he plays when the situation calls for him to be more serious. Johnson plays Jack in “The Sun Never Sets” and again, he is fantastic in the role. He is a divorced father of two, in a committed relationship with Wendy, who is ten years his junior, and the two get along great. Jack is very set in his ways though, and has no intention to either marry again or have any more children, something Wendy wants in her life. Johnson plays Jack as a guy who thinks he knows what he wants, and is happy with where his life is right now. What makes the film work so well though is the stunning chemistry Johnson and Dakota Fanning, who plays Wendy, have together. They work so well off of each other, and their timing together is exquisite. In happy times or during scenes of conflict, these two actors just click perfectly together and it is very easy to see why Wendy is willing to settle down with Jack, even though she wouldn't be getting everything she wants out of life if she does. Now as good as Jake Johnson is in “The Sun Never Sets”, Dakota Fanning is even better. I thought she was absolutely incredible in this, and this is her best performance since she has been doing adult roles. Wendy is in a constant state of confusion during the film, torn between two men she loves, and Fanning does an exemplary job of showing all this. You can see that she loves being with both men, but when she is alone, the weight of it all starts to show and she crumbles. I also loved the relationship that she has with Jack's kids, who adore her; it is so cute to see them all together.

“The Sun Never Sets” is Joe Swanberg's biggest budget film to date, and it looks it with cinematographer Eon Mora taking full advantage of the Alaskan landscapes where the film is set, while shooting on 35mm film. It is such a wise move from Swanberg to use Anchorage, Alaska for the location of his film, because it appears that no matter where you point the camera, the imagery is stunning, which adds huge production value too. The fact that the sun barely sets in Alaska, during the time when the film takes place (and part of the reason for the film's title), it adds an otherworldly quality to the place, and it is just gorgeous to look at. There is a scene late in the film when our characters head out to a bar one night for the weekly trivia competition, with their new partners, unaware that their exes will be there too. It culminates in probably the film's best scene when Wendy follows Jack into the men's room to yell at him for bringing another woman to the bar, just to make her jealous. The two of them start the scene screaming at one another, before they burst out laughing at the absurdity of what they are doing and where they are, and suggest they should get back together. When Jack leaves the bar with his new woman to have a serious talk, they are greeted with the blazing sun, even though it is night time, which shocks you initially and then you remember where the film is set.

I mentioned that “The Sun Never Sets” had a couple of problems, so lets talk about what small issues I had with the film now. My biggest problem with the film is actually the main premise of Jack encouraging Wendy to take six months out of their relationship to find herself again, and if she is still happy after that time, he will be waiting for her. I do understand why he wants Wendy to do this, because she has always wanted to get married and have kids, things he has already done, and doesn't want to do again and he doesn't want her to miss out and in the future end up hating him because she settled with him. I do get it. However, Wendy is so happy with the life she has with Jack that she has no interest in doing what he wants her to do, and yet he forces her to do it. That is the bit I do not understand, she is happy and content with her life, why destroy something good over a what if in the future. Now you would think that having a problem with the main crux of a film would be a problem, but I like the journey Wendy goes on after the fact, but it is such a boneheaded move from Jack in the first place.

The other problem I had with the film, which is a bigger issue for me than the first, was the repetitive nature of the tug-of-war within the love triangle, and the constant push and pull. When one member is finally ready to commit, the other is not, so they get more cosy with the next person, and then they are ready to commit, and the other is not, for what ever reason. It happens more than a couple of times in the film, which is a shame, because despite this constant repetition, “The Sun Never Sets” does a fantastic job of examining the complexities of relationships and how messy they can be, especially when you have history with these people. The only other “negative” I had was that I knew early on exactly how the film would end, and who she would end up with. I mean it is not always the destination that is important to a film, it is the journey getting there, so I do not really consider this a negative because I liked Wendy's journey which felt very real, it was just a bit predictable.

Two brief things I do want to mention though was I loved the relationship between Jack and his ex-wife, which wasn't hostile at all, but showed they still cared about each other even though they were no longer together. You can tell they meant something to each other once in the past, and they still respect one another while they are apart. It is not something you see done in movies very often and as well as it is done here. The other thing I wanted to mention was the oh so awkward date that Wendy goes on with poor Brad, a friend of hers who has always had a fixation on her. It is cringey, but I felt so bad for Brad, but I loved that you could feel absolutely no chemistry between them at all (despite how much Brad wants there to be), and the complete opposite when Wendy bumps into Chuck and you can immediately feel her going weak at the knees. These are just moments that I find so true and real, that make the film special to me.

Overall, I had a wonderful time with “The Sun Never Sets” thanks largely to it's two lead actors Jake Johnson and Dakota Fanning, who have wonderful chemistry together and make every moment they have together feel very real, and lived in, be it happy or painful times. I actually thought Dakota Fanning was absolutely incredible as Wendy and it was her best adult performance yet. While, the film is a little predictable, and becomes repetitive at times, it is a perfect film to sit back on a lazy day and watch and be entertained by it, as it explores relationships and how messy they can become when there is history attached to it.

3.5 Stars.