Bullying amongst children is certainly an issue worthy to be addressed … but not like this. Apart from one or two scenes where the issue is reasonably discussed, the rest of the movie is mostly clichés and unfinished ideas and too long filler scenes that seem to be inserted in order to meet the agreed runtime. To me the most striking aspect of the movie is the apparently complete lack of education of the kids by the parents and the teachers about bullying, such that only one and a half children do show understanding and opposition to it. Then there is also apparently near to no adult supervision and awareness in American children’s camps. They go out on their own as they please and there are no consequences when caught. But most strikingly, the supervising persons do apparently not send a child with an obviously highly contagious skin condition home, they do not see the bulling or decide (mostly) not to intervene and the children can do whatever they please in the dormitory or in the changing rooms without anyone noticing. To me, the writer an director does not really know what he is talking about or how to put it into pictures. Good subject, bad implementation.

What is more horrifying than being a misfit teenager in both middle and high school? The Plague has Horror written in every single aspect, from the atmosphere it creates to the soundtrack it uses to tell the story, but the most horrific part is that the "monster" here is as real as real gets: teenage cruelty. Everett Blunck has such a phenomenal performance that takes you on an emotional journey you aren't expecting to go on because you're now an adult who forgot you were once an adolescent as well. Ben's monolog to Eli was also a monolog to himself, who ends the film freeing himself from the fear of judgement for a moment of a chaotic yet refreshingly careless dance. The shots underwater are breathtaking, both figuratively and literally. In summary, The Plague is yet another child of It Follows (2014). And Charlie Polinger does his references justice.

Plague of Clichés.Painfully slow, drawn out non-scenes as filler. Zero character development.Just stiff and incredibly dull.

I'm still waiting for something to happen. So much buildup and then...yawn. I do not regret watching the movie but I probably would not watch it a second time. I did enjoy the actors though. The story flopped, not the story tellers.