I would love to tell you that it was the opening montage of Jane Schoenbrun's latest flick Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma that convinced me that I was in for another cinematic delight after Schoenbrun's last film I Saw the TV Glow was my top film for 2024. The montage, an inspired mishmash of Camp Miasma meets Friday the 13th memorabilia enveloped by the sounds of Okay Kaya's smashing cover of R.E.M.'s Nightswimming, is absolutely one of the year's best intros and one of the best opening scenes I've seen in quite some time. 

And yet, I expected Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma to mind-fuck me in the best of ways even before the opening scene. 

Schoenbrun delivers. 

Schoenbrun had promised us a tapestry of Friday the 13th bumper-to-bumper with Portrait of a Lady on Fire, and that's exactly what we get. 

Hannah Einbinder, of Hacks fame, whips us into a frenzy as Sundance darling indie filmmaker Kris Williams, whose Psycho remake, told from the perspective of the shower curtain, dazzled audiences and landed her the opportunity to revive the DOA 80's slasher franchise Camp Miasma. 

If that doesn't sound impressive enough, and it should, Williams also wins the favor of that franchise's original final girl, Billy Presley, played to Gloria Swansonish perfection by the seldom been better Gillian Anderson. 

There's really not a moment of Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma that I would change. I pictured film critic pal Nick Rogers in orgasmic delight with the film's iconic needle drops, and Schoenbrun tosses in an iconic villain and a seismic blending of romance meets robust gore. Einbinder and Anderson truly impress here, though I'll admit I really couldn't take my eyes off of Anderson's Norma Desmond torchlight dazzler with a Southern drawl that is still giving me chills. 

Anderson's Billy went into isolation after that first film's success at Camp Tivoli, the abandoned camp where the first film was shot. Kris has eyes on signing her on to the film, a key little nugget that leads Schoenbrun once again to take us along on their unique storytelling, and a visual feast that made me want to watch it again immediately. 

This is a film I wouldn't dare describe in great detail. It demands an open mind, and while I'm proclaiming it one of the best films of the year it's definitely not a film that will work for everyone. 

Jack Haven is here as Little Death, a long ago bullied and brutally murdered camper whose gender fluidity continues Schoenbrun's mastery at giving us entertaining films that matter a hell of a lot. 

While I loved the opening needle drop, my favorite was an extended and demented journey of sorts with Counting Crows' "A Long December." We also spend time here with Sally Shapiro's "Anorak Christmas," Sade's "No Ordinary Love," Andy Shauf's "Satan," and Donna Lewis's pop delight "I Love You Always Forever." 

It's hard to express how much I loved Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma, another complex and layered thriller from Schoenbrun that explores identity, culture, and the idols we make and project in a film that also has some badass kills. 

I can't recommend it enough. 

Written by Richard Propes
The Independent Critic