🦠THE PLAGUE (2025) — The Most Disturbing, Award-Winning Psychological Horror of the Year Hits Theaters This Christmas 🎥🔥

“Sometimes the scariest thing at camp isn’t the dark… it’s the boys.”

This Christmas, audiences are getting a different kind of holiday release — one drenched in dread, paranoia, and the terrifying cruelty of adolescence. THE PLAGUE, the breakout psychological drama-thriller from debut filmmaker Charlie Polinger, has already shaken Cannes, swept festivals worldwide, and earned a rare 11-minute standing ovation.

Now, it finally arrives in U.S. theaters on December 24, 2025, expanding nationwide on January 2, 2026.

If The Killing of a Sacred Deer, Boyhood, and Lord of the Flies had a nightmarish child, this is it.

🌊 What Is The Plague About? — A Game That Stops Being a Game

Set at a remote all-boys water polo camp, The Plague follows Ben, a socially anxious 12-year-old still trying to figure out where he belongs. He wants friends. He wants acceptance. He wants to fit in.

Instead, he gets pulled into a cruel tradition — a “game” where the boys target an outcast they claim is infected with a mysterious illness called “The Plague.”

It starts as a joke.

A ritual.A bit of camp hazing.

But as the pranks escalate, and the line between myth and reality begins to blur, Ben starts to realize something chilling:

What if the Plague isn’t a game?What if something is actually wrong?And what if he joined a tradition designed to destroy someone?

This is a coming-of-age story wrapped in horror, guilt, and group psychology—a soft-spoken nightmare hiding inside a summer camp drama.

🩸 Themes of Fear, Masculinity & Group Cruelty — Why This Film Hits Hard

The Plague isn’t supernatural horror —it’s human horror.

It explores:

• the violence boys inflict on each other

• peer pressure turning into mob mentality

• the desperation to belong

• the dark mythology kids create

• the way fear infects a group like a virus

This is the kind of horror that unsettles you not with monsters, but with children acting like monsters.

Director Charlie Polinger said at Cannes:

“I wanted to capture the moment a boy realizes other boys can be dangerous.”

And he does — brilliantly, brutally, beautifully.

👥 Cast & Characters — Young Actors Delivering Career-Making Performances

Actor	Character	Description
Everett Blunck	Ben	A shy 12-year-old searching for friendship at any cost.
Kayo Martin	Jake	Charismatic, intimidating, unpredictable — the camp’s unofficial ringleader.
Kenny Rasmussen	Eli	The boy at the center of the “Plague” tradition.
Joel Edgerton	Daddy Wags	The camp’s unnerving instructor hiding layers of complexity.
Lennox Espy	Julian	A boy caught between fear and loyalty.
Lucas Adler	Logan	One of Jake’s followers, pushing the cruelty further.
Elliott Heffernan	Tic Tac	The smallest boy with the darkest ideas.
Caden Burris	Matt	A conflicted camp kid who sees the danger too late.
Kolton Lee	Corbin	A boy who realizes the game has gone too far.

🌟 Standout NOTE:

Critics have praised the entire ensemble — rare for a young cast — with many calling it one of the strongest child-actor groups since Stand by Me or Mid90s.

🎥 Behind the Scenes — A Debut Filmmaker Completely Blows Away Cannes

🎬 Director/Writer: Charlie Polinger

In his first feature film, Polinger delivers a masterclass in tension, atmosphere, and emotional horror.

With influences from:

• A24-style psychological cinema

• coming-of-age arthouse dramas

• gritty realism

• European festival filmmaking

Polinger crafts a world where every glance, whisper, and splash of water feels threatening.

🎥 Cinematography

Steven Breckon’s camerawork is haunting — blending sunlit summer camp nostalgia with lurking dread.

✂️ Editing

Simon Njoo & Henry Hayes create razor-sharp pacing — quiet scenes explode into panic, then drop into haunting stillness.

🎼 Music

Johan Lenox’s score mixes eerie strings with unsettling choir-like sounds, echoing childhood innocence turning toxic.

This is prestige horror at its finest.

🏆 Award Buzz — The Most Decorated American Film of Cannes 2025

The Plague didn’t just premiere at Cannes…it dominated festival season.

🌍 Major Festival Reactions:

✔ 11-minute standing ovation at Cannes

✔ Called “the hottest American film at the festival”

✔ Praised by critics for “unbearable tension” and “devastating performances”

✔ Pop star Charli XCX named it her favorite film of the festival

🏆 Awards Won:

• Best Sound Creation Award – Cannes

• Grand Prize – Deauville American Film Festival

• Critics Prize – Deauville

• Best Picture – Fantastic Fest

• Grand Jury Prize – Calgary International Film Festival

• Jean-Marc Vallée Vanguard Award – Orcas Island FF

• Breakthrough Director Prize – Denver Film Festival

• Best Actor Ensemble – Sitges Film Festival

• Best Feature – Woodstock Film Festival

• Best Editing – Woodstock Film Festival

This is not just a horror movie.

It’s an event film, a breakthrough achievement, and one of the most critically acclaimed American indies of 2025.

🌘 Why The Plague Will Break Your Heart and Haunt You

This isn’t shock-value horror.

It’s emotional horror — the kind that stays in your chest for days.

Expect:

• slow-burn psychological tension

• suffocating group dynamics

• heartbreaking moments of cruelty

• a shocking, unforgettable final act

• a gut-punch emotional payoff

Viewers at festivals said they left the theater “shaken,” “speechless,” and “crying.”

One critic wrote:

“The Plague is about the moment innocence mutates into fear.”

This film will sit with audiences long after the credits roll.

📅 Release Date & Streaming Details

🎬 Title: The Plague

🗓️ Festival Premiere: May 16, 2025 (Cannes)

🎄 Limited US Release: December 24, 2025

⭐ Wide Release: January 2, 2026

⏳ Runtime: 95 minutes

🌍 Countries: United States / Romania

📺 Genre: Psychological Horror, Drama, Thriller

A prestige holiday release that’s anything but merry.

❓ FAQ — The Plague (2025)

Q1. What is The Plague about?

A 12-year-old boy becomes entangled in a brutal camp tradition that spirals into psychological horror.

Q2. Is it based on a true story?

No — but its themes are grounded in real adolescent group dynamics.

Q3. Why is the film getting so much hype?

Because it earned universal acclaim, sweeping festivals and shocking audiences with its emotional power.

Q4. Who stars in it?

Everett Blunck, Kayo Martin, Kenny Rasmussen, and Joel Edgerton.

Q5. When does it release in theaters?

December 24, 2025 (limited), January 2, 2026 (wide).

⭐ Final Thoughts — A New Landmark in Psychological Horror

The Plague is not just another coming-of-age film.

It is a brutal, unforgettable portrait of how fear spreads… how boys become followers… and how one cruel game can tip into something irreversible.

With extraordinary performances, masterful direction, and a story that hits like a nightmare you remember for life,

The Plague may be the most important American horror film of 2025.

🦠 THE PLAGUE — IN THEATERS DECEMBER 24, 2025 & NATIONWIDE JANUARY 2, 2026.