The Plague is a 2025 thriller film written and directed by Charlie Polinger in his directorial debut. It stars Everett Blunck, Kayo Martin, Kenny Rasmussen, and Joel Edgerton, who was also a producer. In the film, a twelve-year-old boy (Blunck) arrives at the Tom Lerner Water Polo Camp as a socially anxious outsider. Desperate to fit into the ruthless social hierarchy, he aligns himself with a group of popular boys led by Jake (Martin).
The Plague premiered at the Un Certain Regard section of the 2025 Cannes Film Festival on May 16, 2025, and had limited theatrical release in the United States on December 24, 2025, before expanding nationwide on January 2, 2026. It received critical acclaim.
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Plot
In 2003, middle schooler Ben is attending a water polo summer camp, led by coach "Daddy Wags", that includes a popular boy, Jake, his group of friends, and the eccentric misfit Eli. Anxious to fit in, Ben attempts to befriend the callous Jake, which includes willingly joining in with his friends' bullying and exclusion of Eli, who suffers from a mysterious skin disorder (implied to be a fungal infection), which Jake and his circle call "the plague", a mythical disease that affects mental and motor functions. Eli is ambivalent about his outsider status, and Ben, growing empathetic to his situation and feeling guilty about his treatment, eventually connects with him in private after being annoyed by Jake's behavior. In the locker room when Ben and Eli are alone, Ben offers to apply clotrimazole, an anti-fungal cream, to the rash on Eli's back.
