‘Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma’ review: Little Death, big disappointments

Incoherent plotlines and unfinished ideas leave Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma’s potential an unsatisfying death on the cutting room floor.

Slasher films, and the horror genre at large, is a treasure trove of exploration and experimentation. For every blood-drenched Final Girl defeating her masked killer, we also have character-driven tales breaking down and unpacking societal themes. B-horror camp classics and “Elevated Horror”. Subtext and terror go hand-in-hand, and horror is an incredible place that blends both together. So in the case of Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma, it’s disappointing when a film so full of potential fails to reach a high, both from its lack of coherence and a meandering pacing.

Writer and director Jane Schoenbrun approaches Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma in a similar viewpoint to their previous film, 2024’s I Saw the TV Glow. Both films weave sexuality and gender identity with well-known horror archetypes and tropes, creating a powerful discussion on human exploration and society’s bloodthirsty fascination of the horror genre. Whereas I Saw the TV Glow grounds itself better with a clear viewpoint, Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma falls prey to a complete plot collapsing from too many ideas floating into the air, ultimately being covered up by camp and nostalgia.

A bloody franchise.

Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma utilizes a movie-within-a-movie structure, establishing a commentary on sexual exploration, and the after-effects of trauma and horror franchises. Up-and-coming queer director Kris Williams (Hannah Einbinder) is hired to direct the reboot of a popular horror franchise, Camp Miasma. In the style of the Friday the 13^th and Sleepaway Camp movies, the studio wants Kris to revitalize the flailing franchise and fix the transphobic issues from the original 1980s movie.

To map out the serial killer’s origin story, “Little Death” (a killer in a clear hazmat suit and a square ventilation duct helmet), Kris visits Camp Miasma’s original Final Girl, Billy Presley (Gillian Anderson). In the years since, Billy has become a recluse, dealing with a complicated relationship to the movie that made her famous. Together, Kris and Billy explore their connection to horror, their sexual discoveries, and a mysterious energy tied to the Camp Miasma film.

While Kris and Billy’s interactions take place in the present, Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma is mixed with clips from the original movie. Here, a younger Billy (Amanda Fix) portrays her shy Final Girl character as Little Death begins slashing and killing through the camp. Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma blends slasher horror, camp, comedy, and romance tropes into a horror-romance film.

Love blooms.

Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma is more of a romance than horror. Our main couple encounters intimate revelations and metaphors set in a horror backdrop vs. the reverse. That’s not to say it’s a huge issue; it just needs to be stated because this pairing fundamentally grounds every narrative and plot development.

Einbinder and Anderson have great chemistry together. The mysteriousness of Anderson’s Billy piques the curiosity of the plot, raising more alluring questions as the story develops. Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma portrays Billy as a “Norma Desmond”-type, channelling the eccentric and secretive qualities from the Sunset Boulevard character. You can’t quite trust Billy 100% because there always seems to be something uncertain hiding beneath the surface.

On the other hand, we have Einbinder’s Kris whose sensual captivation with horror and Billy lures her deeper into Camp Miasma’s world. Kris, who’s deeply dissatisfied with her current polyamorous relationship, finds comfort and pleasure. Her growing connection with a “Final Girl” that she’s idolized for so long sparks a journey of self-realization and sexuality that she hadn’t achieve before. Both Anderson and Einbinder play really well off each other, injecting passion and slasher eccentricities into their dynamics.

A raising body count.

Through the romance, Schoenbrun crafts a tale of sexual repression and audience’s love of kills and thrills. Unfortunately, the movie is muddled with too many ideas floating in the air to be juggled. Schoenbrun has the general concept that they want to achieve, but the movie drags on, desperately trying to reach its “climax.” However, the film doesn’t earn its high, or many of its middling points either.

Without giving any spoilers, the horror elements feel aimless and unnecessary, mostly only providing references to genre fans. Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma establishes the genre’s landscape, showcasing several “camp slasher” tropes, but it does nothing with them. In certain instances, the film completely disregards its own lore that it established previously merely to get a campy one-liner or scene in the mix. For example, the film bounces back and forth between a slasher Final Girl and victim, choosing the term “Final Girl” as an ambiguous blanket term. (It’s not; a Final Girl is a very specific archetype in scary movies.)

Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma wants to have those big, weird moments that keep you guessing. However, it does none of the legwork for the movie to progress further. Instead it’s just another question creating more and more ideas, or drawing on more references without answering the previous ones. In a way, the movie treats horror audiences as if we’re undeserving of said answers as long as we get blood, guts, and sex. Satire and camp only work if we’re in on the joke; instead, sometimes the tropes placed the joke on us.

Unfinished campfire tales.

Unfortunately, due to all these inconsistencies and juggling ideas, the third act completely collapses in on itself. Dare we say, maybe even the entire second half of the movie? Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma doesn’t know who it is or what it wants to be. Besides how the romance is connected, everything else falters into a confusing mess.

The third act, specifically, is a polarizing narrative that delivers on none of the answers to the questions it sets up. Schoenbrun’s climax resolves Kris and Billy’s romance, but everything surrounding it doesn’t fit what the film built up in the previous runtime. As much as it can be said that these lack of answers mimic a key plot point within the film, that ambiguity is an unsatisfying stretch. It’s one that fails to follow-through on the film’s development and great potential. This may be a case of audiences walking away with their own interpretation of the Camp Miasma world, and how Kris and Billy fit within the horror influences.

The bottom line.

Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma is an imbalanced horror-romance that leaves you feeling unsatisfied by the end credits. The initial concept grips you, pulling you into the world of this forgotten horror movie franchise, and the Final Girl living with the past. Einbinder and Anderson’s chemistry fills the screen, creating a mysterious and seductive romance that tackles deep self-exploration, sexuality, and attractions to horror. But once you pull back from the core romance, Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma is trapped in a cycle of wanting to do a lot without achieving it.

That’s not to say all elements don’t reach their conclusion. If you’re watching for the romance and B-movie cheesiness, Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma is there with you. You’ll have plenty of sexual tension, rough CGI, and campy references. Though, from a horror standpoint, or even as a well-paced movie and narrative, the film fails to hit its mark.

Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma is now playing in theaters everywhere. Watch the trailer below.

Images courtesy of Mubi.