Shadows on the Wall | Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma

Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma

dir-scr Jane Schoenbrun
prd Dede Gardner, Jeremy Kleiner
with Gillian Anderson, Hannah Einbinder, Jack Haven, Amanda Fix, Sarah Sherman, Quintessa Swindell, Jasmin Savoy Brown, Zach Cherry, Eva Victor, Patrick Fischler, Kevin McDonald, David Dastmalchian, Dylan Baker
release US 7.Aug.26,
UK 21.Aug.26
26/Canada Mubi 1h46

CANNES FILM FEST
SXSW LONDON

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Deliriously unhinged, this inventive film plays with elements of slasher horror movies, to the point where it becomes almost overwhelmingly self-referential. But every layer of pastiche is fiendishly clever, rippling with both wit and lusty longing. Once again, writer-director Jane Schoenbrun proves herself a true original. She also goes hilariously over the top with the gore. But at its emotional core, this is a beautifully Lynchian coming of age.

It's been decades since the Camp Miasma horror movie franchise became a joke, and now the studio has hired quirky indie filmmaker Kris (Einbinder) to reboot it. A fan herself, Kris heads to a snowy corner of the Pacific Northwest to meet the original's reclusive star. She's surprised to discover Billy (Anderson) living in the camp where the first movie was shot. As Kris tries to convince her to return to the role, Billy recognises Kris' nerdy obsession with her alter ego. And Kris finds it increasingly difficult to distinguish between her fantasies and reality.

So meta that it's beyond absurd, this film reveals Schoenbrun's deep love of the slasher genre, nodding to expected classics like Halloween, Friday the 13th and A Nightmare on Elm Street. And the snowy setting offers an enjoyable blast of The Shining. But it's the underlying emotionality that pulls us in, as both Anderson and Einbinder subtly reveal details about their characters, their hopes and also their much darker thoughts and feelings. So watching them dance around each other is both amusing and surprisingly moving.

Not that we ever quite know what is actually happening. The film's more fantastical edges keep us guessing, even as we are dazzled by the visual flourishes. Several scenes are played against painted backdrops, as if we have entered a fairy tale storybook. And side roles feel almost cartoonish, including Sherman as Kris' hyperactive agent and Swindell as her girlfriend back home. And Fix shines as the younger Billy in extended scenes from the original movie.

And then there's Haven as the square-helmeted killer Little Death, whose gender-blurring back story adds another emotive kick, elevating the film's queer themes in ways that catch us by surprise. Of course Little Death is another key signpost to the film's, ahem, climactic moment. The way Schoenbrun plays with grainy film, skittish VHS and artful illustrations is simply gorgeous. And even if we are a bit unsure about the film's quirky funny-scary tone, what is happening here has a resonance we can barely articulate.

themes, language, violence, sexuality 23.Jul.26

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