The Reel Review
An indie filmmaker tapped to make a reboot of a popular but overdone horror franchise plunges into psycho-sexual delirium when she meets the star of the original film, who now lives at the camp where it was shot decades earlier. Hannah Einbinder and Gillian Anderson star in this meta LGBTQ+ horror.
The idea behind the film within a film, like transgender director Jane Schoenbrun’s I Saw the TV Glow, is about how pop culture shapes our childhood memories and provides safe spaces for queer kids. It is creative on its face, but like Schoenbrun’s prior film, the execution leaves a lot to be desired. Groovy 80s slasher film footage and solid performances from Einbinder (Hacks) and Anderson are good – just not good enough to overcome the surreal, pretentious and self-absorbed story.
Additionally, there is just so much going on in this film that the threadbare plot starts to grow tedious in the third act. The whole transgender theme, while nice representation, also could have benefitted greatly from more detail. Sorry fawning critics, this one is a miss.
REEL FACTS
• Numerous studios passed on this project, including A24, which produced Schoenbrun’s I Saw the TV Glow. Mubi ultimately signed up to fund the film, which reportedly cost $10 million to make and grossed $8.4 million at the box office.
• The “A Long December” music montage was pre-planned almost like a music video. Schoenbrun’s cousin was the guitar tech for Counting Crows, and Schoenbrun had met the band backstage at the age of ten.
• Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma and its snowy setting was filmed during the summer on Canada’s Vancouver Island.
Video & Photo
