Growing up in the ’80s without basic cable or the internet, summertime fun during my preteen years revolved around visiting the city swimming pools. You got exercise, the adrenaline rush from the high dive, to hang out with friends, a light snack and probably a little too much sun for an entire day’s worth of admission. And when it finally came time to perfect my swimming technique, at my first lesson, I was literally thrown into the deep end and told to paddle. My instructor wasn’t so great back then.

Eventually I caught on, not from the excellent instructions that were given, but from the sink-or-swim perspective. The fear from watching Jaws too soon. And the public humiliation. Those same horrors emerged from the depths of my soul as I watched the kids desperately training at the Tom Lerner Water Polo Camp in the cold open of The Plague.

During the Summer of 2003, a group of early teenage boys attempt to work together while unknowingly preparing for life as adults, quickly getting dropped into the deep end of peer pressure. They’re crude. They’re rude. They’re definitely socially awkward. Hurtful rumors are spread, and some Lord of the Flies-type of shenanigans are pulled, but the worst comes from their fear of the unknown: one of the boys develops a newfound rash, which quickly spreads. Not socially aware, Eli (stoically played by Kenny Rasmussen) gets teased and ridiculed, mostly keeping to himself.

Kids can be so cruel.

Ben (Everett Blunck) has recently moved to town, so he doesn’t have any friends yet. Desperately trying to fit in with the cool kids, Ben teases Eli incessantly as well, until he breaks away from the crowd, eventually becoming friends. The tables are then turned on Ben, as he soon learns what it’s like to be bullied.

“Don’t let other people determine who you are…”

Charlie Polinger’s THE PLAGUE. Courtesy of Steven Breckon. An
Independent Film Company release.

While there’s never an official prognosis of this disease, it is definitely contagious. It does spread quickly. And it basically has no limits. This is a hate plague that I recognized all too quickly as a teenager myself, having received my share from many years ago. Here, it’s mostly used as a metaphor, of sorts, showing what can come from willingly hurting other people’s feelings and spreading disinformation.

I was amused as this film transitioned from fully focusing on a water sport to the interpersonal relationships — or lack thereof — outside the water. And the wildest thing is the smallest of the bunch is the meanest. Sounds about right for real life, too.

As Jake, Kayo Martin does his best to remind me of those tough times. He’s the big bully, here. No one really stands up for themselves. No one really stands up to him, so in some ways, this plague feels like a collective madness that is quietly enveloping the bully’s victims, ever silent and always suffering with no means to reach out for help.

Jake’s personality is cringey, as he shuns and excommunicates with zero pushback. And my biggest pushback of the film is its bit of body horror, which always makes me squirm uncomfortably.

Once the end credits rolled and I realized that being different from others isn’t so bad, I just wouldn’t wish my pre- and teenage years onto anybody… ever. The psychological terror is real in The Plague, thankful to its tight screenplay and believable young actors. In fact, I’m happy to nominate Rasmussen, Blunck and especially Martin in the Best Young Actor category for the upcoming Music City Film Critics Association Awards.

The kids contribute to make the film great, along with Writer-Director Charlie Polinger and Producer-Star Joel Edgerton, who gives the most hilariously depressing motivational speech ever by an on-screen coach. The trauma is cyclical for these boys, as you’re either the aggressor or you’re the victim in this story. And no one should ever feel guilty for being true to themselves, or the city pools that were visited during your youth.

“We’re all different… all of us.”

The Plague opens nationwide on Jan 2!