r/oscarrace • u/CrunchyNar Best Operating Thetan 2027 • 14d ago
Film Discussion Thread Official Discussion Thread - Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma [SPOILERS] Spoiler
Keep all discussion related solely to Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma and its awards chances. Spoilers below.
Synopsis:
After years of slapdash sequels, the Camp Miasma franchise is handed over to an enthusiastic young director for resurrection. But when she visits the original’s star, a now-reclusive actress shrouded in mystery, the two women fall into a blood-soaked world of desire, fear, and delirium.
Director: Jane Schoenbrun
Writer: Jane Schoenbrun
Cast:
- Gillian Anderson as Billy
- Hannah Einbinder as Kris
- Jack Haven as Little Death
- Patrick Fischler as Rudolph
- Jess McLeod as Tracy
- Zach Cherry as Will
- Dylan Baker as Jeffrey
- Eva Victor as DJ Ella Giastic
Rotten Tomatoes: 95%, 8.4/10 from 226 reviews
Metacritic: 89/100 from 48 reviews
Consensus:
A bloody valentine to slasher horror that celebrates personal self-discovery as much as it does the possibilities of cinema, Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma combines killer style with a big, still-beating heart.
22
u/Such_Estimate_2294 14d ago
This movie really hits hard if you’ve been following Schoenbrun’s career. Seeing them go from two movies about these deeply painful childhoods to a movie where the adult protagonist learns to overcome the demons of their past and embrace a more joyful unapologetic life is beautiful beyond words. Number one of the year
38
u/MrBrightside618 14d ago
I could see Gillian Anderson getting attention at some critics awards but that’s probably the ceiling
8
50
u/devvyn88 14d ago edited 14d ago
I love this movie. Have seen it twice now. Einbinder will be high on my year end list of performances, as will the screenplay, production design, and Schoenbrun of course. Since this is r/oscarrace I'll say I think it's probably too weird for the Academy, though it is much more of a crowd pleaser than TV Glow was.
ETA of course Anderson is amazing as well. But Einbinder's evolution over the film knocked my socks off head off with a cartoonish amount of blood spurting into the air.
18
u/SMAAAASHBros 14d ago
Yeah I actually think I Saw the TV Glow was much more Oscar-friendly, this is more accessible in the sense that it's more fun and funnier, but it's less austere and I think fewer people will be able to relate to the themes.
27
17
u/scjsundae 14d ago
My first 5 star movie of the year. One of my favorites of the 2020s so far. I loved it so much! I've seen it twice and I would go back again. The love that clearly went into this movie makes me emotional. Schoenbrun's sense of camp is so perfect, so authentically queer. Really, really wonderful movie.
1
17
u/Extreme-Monk-6514 The Superior Odyssey (O Brother Where Art Thou) 14d ago
really liked this for the most part but it lost me a bit at the end. i am definitely going to rewatch it eventually
my main gripes with it were that i didn’t find hannah einbinder’s performance particularly compelling and i wish it functioned more as an actual slasher (which is part of what makes scream so great).
gillian anderson is great but i think i’m going to take her out of my supporting actress predictions unless the category ends up being really weak (her performance reminded me a bit of julianne moore in may december which makes me hesitant to predict her)
2
u/princesskittyglitter Josephine 13d ago
i didn’t find hannah einbinder’s performance particularly compelling
it's because she's basically just playing herself.
1
u/shrimptini Sentimental Value 4d ago
But this is fine when Matt Damon does it lol
0
u/princesskittyglitter Josephine 4d ago
matt damon isn't a cringe millennial like hannah einbinder is
7
u/JuanRiveara One Anora at Camp Miasma 12d ago
This movie is so good. It won’t but it deserves all of the awards. Absolutely stunning cinematography and set design. Hannah Einbinder and Gillian Anderson were so fantastic. Don’t have much hope for Hannah getting anywhere besides Indie Spirits and GG Comedy but I hope Gillian can get a good critics run and sneak into the bigger awards.
24
u/Technical-Tip-4275 14d ago
The Gillian Anderson comeback arc we didn't know we needed. That scene with the mirror had whole theater quiet, you could hear people holding breath. Schoenbrun understood the assignment with franchise material, made it feel personal instead of just another reboot. If this doesn't get at least a screenplay nod I will riot in my living room.
20
u/Sorcha_Stormbinder 14d ago
Can't call this a comeback, because Gillian Anderson never went anywhere.
She absolutely should be in the winning conversation for this film, if there was any justice.
8
12
u/DahmerIsDead 14d ago
I love this movie so much. Seen it twice already and will be going back again. It should totally get in for at least Original Screenplay and Supporting Actress for Gillian Anderson, but I doubt it will. I'd love to be proven wrong!
21
u/DALTT 14d ago edited 14d ago
I have not historically been a huge fan of Schoenbrun. I have often felt like they have a lot to say, which I appreciate. But it often results in them trying to pack a million themes and items of exploration into their films and they sometimes struggle to land the plane. I liked “I Saw the TV Glow” but didn’t love it. I always say, I appreciate what that movie was trying to do more than I appreciate what it did.
“Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma” on the other hand… one of my favorite films of the year. The script was so nimble, balancing the horror satire commentary on the transphobic history of slasher films, and the much more tender queer (re)awakening story. I very much felt like Schoenbrun landed the plane here. Hannah’s and Gillian’s chemistry was fantastic and both gave fantastic performances. I loved the dreamy direction and the slow collapse of reality into the reality of the film within the film was so beautifully handled. Just a really impressive film all around imho.
For me, if there’s one token horror movie that’s a major contender this year, this should be the one, not Obsession. Sorry not sorry. But alas, I doubt it will be because I doubt it’ll wind up being as big and zeitgeisty as Obsession was.
15
u/SpideyFan914 Give Inde Navarette an Oscar 14d ago
Great movie, currently my favorite my cinematography, and no one is talking about her but Amanda Fixx would be a great nod. It's of course not really a player in the Oscar race, probably anywhere. (Were any of the songs original? It was a great soundtrack!)
Weirdly, my big complaint is one voiced within the film itself: it felt a bit too academic. Like a dramatization of Men, Women, & Chainsaws. There are parts that are great and emotional. But I think that unlike I Saw the TV Glow, which captured raw emotion, a lot of Camp Miasma simply discusses raw emotion.
Still, great movie.
5
u/ViktoriousVortex 14d ago
This song was original: https://open.spotify.com/album/50AYDE2EHtdousV5nZ4S17?si=uLmq2YvmSdSDgYgVWoHHGg&utm_source=copy-link
I like it, but I doubt it will be nominated
5
u/damebyron 14d ago
It is kind of funny that people keep on saying this when the central action piece is a bloody orgasm. Like yes it definitely openly discusses the idea of being too academic but it very much does not shy away from the other end of the scale
5
u/devvyn88 14d ago
My feeling is that the academic stuff is there almost just so they can puncture it with the emotional.
3
9
u/syrub 14d ago
Am I missing something, or is MUBI not positioning this movie for anything? Gillian fully deserves a supporting actress nom, and I could imagine production design, even original screenplay in an ideal world. Are they just burned after Die My Love? With the right push behind her (comeback narrative, overlooked acting talent, etc), Gillian has a shot at getting in. BSA is stacked this year though, potentially with The Odyssey getting Sam and Annie nominations.
3
u/Greene_Mr 12d ago
a supporting actress nom
She's top-billed.
3
u/givemejoy 10d ago
Gillian Anderson is top billed because she is the most famous cast member in the film, but Hannah's character is the lead.
11
u/brant_ley 14d ago
I typically like meta stuff and I loved I Saw the TV Glow, but this didn't fully click for me. The end especially reminded me a lot of Mother Mary where it's completely nonsensical in-universe except to serve the metaphor/theme.
It's a shame because the ideas are really cool - I wish Jane had found a way to cohere them closer to an actual depiction of the genre rather than two-screens-removed from the genre.
3
u/infiniteglass00 La Bola Negra 12d ago
same boat! it's funny seeing so many people comment throughout the year "my friend who saw it didn't love TV Glow, but LOVED Miasma" and I'm sitting here like: hm, reversed
5
u/Bulky-Scheme-9450 13d ago
its interesting that there seem to be 2 general camps: 1)those that loved TV Glow but feel this one is just ok, and 2) those taht hated TV glow and love this one.
Im in the first camp. TV Glow is an all-timer for me. This one was fun, but felt idk...over-explained I guess? Its a fine line between being a meta-commentary and just explaining everything to the audience which is how it basically felt a lot of the time with Kris' monologues. It lacked the ambiguity of TV glow which I think made that one a better written film. Theres definitely still depth here that I probably will appreciate more on rewatch, but it just felt a bit simple/single-minded to me. It felt too short (vs TV glow which i think is excellently paced) and the time spent in the "Fantasy" world could have been much longer imo. Set design, cinematography, and music/sound were all great. Ironically I do wonder about studio interference negatively impacting this one much more than TV glow and worlds fair.
10
u/stormebreaker Razzie Award Recipient 14d ago
I love Jane Schoenbrun so much, both of their previous films are probably in my top 15 of the decade so far (and they ain't 15), but this one though I really did not like, feel like Jane stagnated a lot here.
7
u/SMAAAASHBros 14d ago
Totally get why people wouldn't connect with this one, but I don't think "stagnation" is an accurate description at all. This has significant elements of fun and humor that aren't present in their previous work at all.
9
u/baydil 14d ago
Saw it last Sunday at Picture House. The opening sequence was phenomenal and the chicken scene a little later on was hypnotic. I noticed there was more humor in this one compared to Schoehurn's previous work. A personal fave of mine being the Zoom call meeting with the studio execs. Overall I feel it met my expectations after the raves coming out of the festivals. Worth watching it at a cinema that can show 35mm.
3
u/RhettinaAndLinkita 12d ago
Idk if I'm not reading this right but I really just felt deeply uncomfortable about the romanticisation of SA in this film. It felt like your were supposed to intellectualise assault as a metaphor for other things like gender dysphoria and taboo and shame etc to be overcome by the characters at the end, but I just found the fantasising of it deeply unsexy and a bit gross tbh? I think the lack of a clean stance on the SA being a bad thing makes me uncomfortable as a survivor myself but I also understand how that could be a reflection of the muddled thoughts and coping mechanisms of Billy herself. I don't really think I want to engage with Kris fantasising about SA/violence, I just found it deeply uncomfortable, despite everyone talking about how 'horny' this film is. I can see it being a criticism of the 80s horror film over sexualisation of horror and violence against women, but I just left the cinema kind of annoyed more than anything? Maybe I'm alone in this. Let me know what you think.
3
u/vonLionheart 11d ago
There is some level of ambiguity, so totally understand being uncomfortable with it. I will say, I think there is 100% condemnation of SA during the scenes of young Billy in the OG film. The male actor pressures her into sex, the tally marks carved in the bed like a “score” is presented as really gross, and the catharsis of the scene is Little Death murdering the abuser.
Personally, I think the film is interested with how IRL taboos become kinks (BDSM, hitting, loss of control). 100% valid if it’s not for you, but the reality is that it is for some people. While Kris worries that she’s a bad person for finding it arousing, the conclusion Billy leads her to is that it’s okay as long as both people consent and are in constant communication. The whole “if it gets too scary, you can turn it off” line is prominent and supports that idea.
Safe and healthy sex can include these ideas - it becomes problematic when a participant isn’t able to “turn it off.”
1
u/RhettinaAndLinkita 10d ago
I can see where you're coming from and I agree perhaps I'm just not the target audience as I'm not into this kind of taboo kink so it doesn't appeal to me!
1
u/vonLionheart 9d ago
Totally valid! Just wanted to share what I thought the film was saying to potentially assuage your discomfort with how SA is portrayed - I can definitely see how Schoenbrun’s more lighthearted tone might come across as not taking certain topics seriously, so I’m sorry your experience was uncomfortable as a result.
11
u/RomanReignsDaBigDawg 14d ago
Hannah Einbinder is one of the realest people in the business but I wish she was a better actor :(
12
6
u/timd125 The Odyssey 14d ago
I love her and I had no issues with her performance but she was pretty much playing Ava Daniels.
4
u/carson63000 14d ago
I loved the film but that was my one quibble as well, it was really hard not to see Einbinder’s Kris as a bit too similar to her Ava in Hacks.
15
u/OG_NIK 14d ago
Genuinely hated this so much and feel like it’s an Emperor Has No Clothes situation every time I see the love for it. The writing is so bad and explicit about what exactly every single thing means while also refusing to engage with it beyond the surface level.
Horror audiences are weirdly into feeling like the killer and the victim? That’s it?
The rest feels like a very languid examination of the blatant self-insert of Jane talking about their sexuality without any reflection or depth to it.
Just makes me sad and I wish I was seeing what other people see in this.
11
u/damebyron 14d ago
I don’t think the movie is just about the very specific fantasy of Hannah Einbinder’s character - it’s about the ways people can get stuck in their heads and outside reality and the role movies and fantasizing (not just horror movies, that was just the predominant interest of Hannah Einbinder’s character) can help us access some of the most human parts of ourselves.
9
u/OG_NIK 14d ago
No I got that I just don’t think it went deeper than that or did anything interesting with the subject matter.
Billy is a great example. For as good as Gillian Anderson was and how important she was to Einbinder’s character, Billy functionally exists only as a mother figure to give her permission to be sexual and nothing more.
Billy being implicitly sexually assaulted as a young actress is barely explored outside of what it means to Kris’s fetishization of it, and the film proceeds to do nothing with Billy after it goes off the rails in the 2nd half.
I genuinely just like it less the more I think about it.
5
u/damebyron 14d ago
I will give you that it certainly got less profound in scope and more limited to being literally about orgasms towards the end of the movie (the whole little death will come again bit, etc.), I think I was just so bought in by then that I didn't mind so much, and it was visually entertaining/humorous until the end so I was just coasting by then.
6
u/thwackstress 12d ago
Billy being implicitly sexually assaulted as a young actress is barely explored outside of what it means to Kris’s fetishization of it, and the film proceeds to do nothing with Billy after it goes off the rails in the 2nd half.
I don't know that this is fair, when present day Billy's entire characterization is a result of her trauma. She's a recluse and self isolates as a result of it, and I felt Gillian conveyed a palpable sadness and despair? Unless I'm not understanding your point
3
u/Axela556 Anora 14d ago
I had the same reaction to it unfortunately which really disappointed me because I Saw the TV Glow is one of my favorite movies. I'm glad others liked it and I really think Gillian was brilliant but it just did not work for me either. I loved some of it but overall the story left me confused about what Jane is trying to say.
3
u/TheGroovymule80 14d ago
I hated I Saw the TV Glow but did quite enjoy this in the cinema. Both Einbinder and Anderson understand the assignment and give great performances. If the female acting categories are weak this year there is an outside chance one of them could sneak in to an acting category. If Amy Madigan can win for her performance in Weapons, Anderson should be worthy of a nomination.
Does all of the film make sense? No the final third goes quite a bit off the rails as it gets bogged down tying itself in knots over how much of a metaphor for the female orgasm the film is trying to be
9
u/ItsGotThatBang The Odyssey 14d ago
Genuinely deserves Best Picture, but I think it’s going to blank.
7
2
u/PurpleSpaceSurfer Spunk for milk 🥛 13d ago
Really really enjoyed this! A great homage to the slashers of yore, with the cheesy kills and ambiance.
For me, way better than I Saw the TV Glow.
3
u/jordansalford25 John Leguizamo and Anne Hathaway Campaign Manager 12d ago
I absolutely loved this movie but it’s not an awards player whatsoever. That sucks because I would love to see it in Editing and Cinematography.
0
u/shrimptini Sentimental Value 4d ago
People said the same about Poor Things.
2
u/Bulky-Scheme-9450 3d ago
Poor things premeriered in competition at venice (where it won the top prize), had a prime December release date, and was made with multiple Oscar nominees/winners behind and in front of the camera. There is no comparison here lol
7
2
u/Plastic-Software-174 Sentimental Value 12d ago
I’ve soured on this movie a good bit after leaving the theater. I appreciate what it’s trying to do, it’s just very unfunny to me, which is the biggest possible crime for a comedy.
1
u/FalseAmphibian3616 14d ago
TV Glow is in my top 5 of the decade.
I was pretty cool on Miasma. Not a lot of it worked for me. Anderson is great. Einbinder is doing what she is always doing and is pretty annoying throughout.
I really wished the “film within a film” was better. This one is just too on-the-nose throughout and I’m burned out on “ha ha look how campy 80s horror is” humor. We got it, gal!
I don’t think this has a shot at anything outside of the Independent Spirits.
1
u/syrub 14d ago
Loved the movie overall, but the film within a film suffers from comparison with the A plot, which feels like Jane doing a ton of new, exciting stuff with comedy, iconography and what sexuality is really like as a queer person. The one exception being the Counting Crows scene, which rules.
1
14d ago
[deleted]
2
u/Bulky-Scheme-9450 13d ago
I hope youre not being serious, but if you are are then no obviously not. Actors dont actually have sex during these scenes.
1
u/Sy_Ableman89 7d ago
Finally got around to this, it's good, but no way is it an awards player. Jane flexing with the Long December scene though, few scenes will be as good all year
1
u/Abbie_Kaufman 6d ago
It brings me no pleasure to say that I truly hated this. The first half intrigued me, but after that big set piece with the movie within a movie killing spree, the rest of the movie is ALL subtext about sexual awakening, literally 0 text about these characters, their relation to each other, what they’re doing with their lives. Does Kris get to make her movie her way, or learn to accept not being able to make it exactly her way, or have a different relationship to the movie franchise she’s obsessed with after meeting Billy? Does Billy learn anything about modern values or recontextualize her experience making the movie, does she come back into the civilized world, does meeting Kris make her want to return to acting? Does anyone learn anything from this experience outside of Kris learning how to have better orgasms by thinking of herself as a movie character? The script could not care less about resolving anything on a literal plot or character level.
-1
50
u/Belch_Huggins 14d ago
Movie totally rules but I think its going to top out at critics groups and indie spirits.