“Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma Review: Sex, Slashers, and the Search for Intimacy

After making a splash with “I Saw the TV Glow”, writer-director Jane Schoenbrun continues to carve out a distinctive path with MUBI’s “Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma”.  Once again, Schoenbrun takes familiar genre material and uses it to explore more personal themes.  However, this time, the results didn’t always resonate with me.

The fictional “Camp Miasma” slasher franchise was once beloved but has fallen victim to hastily made sequels and declining interest.  Enter Kris (Hannah Einbinder), a young horror aficionado whose emergence from the Sundance scene makes her an appealing choice to revive the property.  With Hollywood cashing in on nostalgia and the ongoing popularity of elevated horror, Kris is handed the keys to the franchise.

The opportunity should be a dream come true, but Kris faces challenges outside the editing room.  Her relationship with Mari (Jasmin Savoy Brown) is struggling, and Kris grapples with her own inability to orgasm.  More importantly, she feels a disconnect between understanding sexuality and actually experiencing intimacy.  In an effort to reconnect the reboot with its roots, she seeks out Billy (Gillian Anderson), the reclusive star of the original film.

I’ve mentioned in previous reviews that horror is experiencing a remarkable renaissance in 2026, and Schoenbrun certainly understands the genre.  While I enjoyed “I Saw the TV Glow”, I respected it more than I wanted to revisit it.  Schoenbrun’s eccentric filmmaking style doesn’t always resonate with me.

For much of her latest film, however, I was fully engaged.  The movie begins as an affectionate love letter to slasher cinema, complete with recognizable nods to a certain hockey-mask-wearing icon.  Gore fans should also be satisfied, as Schoenbrun isn’t afraid to let the blood flow when the occasion calls for it.

Einbinder gives Kris an authentic appeal.  Similar to Randy in *Scream*, she understands horror inside and out without coming across as an insufferable film snob.  Yet, Einbinder’s best moments come when Kris’s confidence in the genre collides with her emotional uncertainty.

At times, Schoenbrun’s approach reminded me of “The Company of Wolves”, another horror film that uses genre imagery as a doorway into sexual awakening.  The difference is that Schoenbrun substitutes fairy-tale mythology for slasher conventions.  Kris understands sex intellectually, but through Billy, she begins to realize that knowing the mechanics of desire and allowing yourself to experience vulnerability, seduction, and intimacy are entirely different things.

Anderson is particularly effective, as Billy feels like someone who has already traveled the road Kris is just beginning to explore.  Their scenes together provide the film with its strongest emotional foundation and help clarify Schoenbrun’s larger ideas about desire, fandom, and living outside of movies.

Unfortunately, it is the third act where the movie began to lose me.  Schoenbrun gradually departs from the relatively grounded intimacy of the first two acts for something more surreal and almost *Videodrome*-esque, blurring the lines between flesh, fantasy, horror cinema, and reality.  While I understood what Schoenbrun was reaching for stylistically, the deeper the film delved into its metaphor, the less connected I felt to Kris.

There is much to admire here, particularly the performances by Einbinder and Anderson, the commitment to slasher mythology, and Schoenbrun’s willingness to create something unapologetically strange.  I’m unlikely to revisit “Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma”, but viewers already attuned to Schoenbrun’s aesthetic may find considerably more to embrace.

Final Grade: C+

“Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma” is in limited release now and expands on the 21st.