Critics’ reviews

Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma (2026)

19 reviews from 19 publications. Critics’ score 85: 15 positive, 1 mixed, 0 negative.

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85
Positive
15
Mixed
1
Negative
0

Most critics respond warmly to Schoenbrun’s playful use of a fictional slasher franchise to explore queer desire, identity and attachment to disreputable cinema. Praise centres on Gillian Anderson and Hannah Einbinder, whose chemistry gives the film’s ideas an emotional connection. The reviews repeatedly pick out its humour, unsettling sexuality and affectionate treatment of horror conventions, finding more than clever references in its bloodshed and nostalgia.

The disagreement concerns how much feeling survives the film’s abstractions, rather than the quality of the performances. Film Comment offers the clearest reservation: viewers without an appetite for gore and exaggerated kitsch may find it cold, despite the leads’ work. The Hollywood Reporter also finds it more abstract than emotionally resonant, while remaining drawn to its honesty and humour. /Film and Collider note pacing problems, but these are modest qualifications within a broadly enthusiastic consensus.

Financial Times
19 August 2026 · ★★★★★ · Danny Leigh
100

The critic describes the film as heady, funny, and unnerving, a disguised horror movie that feels like feel-good fun with strong performances. Gillian Anderson and Hannah Einbinder's chemistry and the inventive take on genre clichés are highlighted positively.

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Radio Times
21 August 2026 · ★★★★★ · Patrick Cremona
100

The critic calls it another immensely mesmeric and evocative piece that cements Schoenbrun as one of the most exciting directors of the decade and an instant cult classic. It singles out the spellbinding use of a fictional slasher franchise to explore art, identity, sexuality and the power of lowbrow media to transform alienated viewers.

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Vulture
6 August 2026 · festival review · Alison Willmore
90*

The film is an absolute banger that revolves around a decades-old slasher franchise and the feelings it engenders in its protagonists. It finds common ground between a young filmmaker and an older actress through themes of flesh, fluids, nostalgia, and visceral connections to art.

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Slant Magazine
18 May 2026 · ★★★½/4
88

Schoenbrun’s endlessly playful, humorous, and gory film is a metatextual ode to slashers that collapses fictional and real worlds in a riveting blend of romance, absurdity, and violence. It explores sex and cinema as forces that penetrate and transform us, with tactile commentary on the genre.

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Empire
4 August 2026 · Laura Venning
85*

The critic calls it an utterly unique, exhilaratingly entertaining vision that is both blood-drenched and beautiful. They single out its deliciously rich, cine-literate text, playful homage to slashers, and compelling tender lead performances that embrace queerness viscerally.

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The Guardian
14 May 2026 · festival review
85*

The critic praises the film as an enjoyable, eccentric display of transformative ecstasy and fan devotion to trash cinema and kink. Gillian Anderson's performance as the reclusive Final Girl is singled out for its droll style and seductive presence.

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The Independent
14 May 2026 · festival review · Adam White
85*

The critic praises Schoenbrun's staggeringly original take on sexuality and the thrill of problematic horror cinema. They single out Gillian Anderson's performance as her greatest acting showcase in years, maternal yet threatening, and suggest it could earn her an Oscar.

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Variety
13 May 2026 · Critics Pick · Jessica Kiang
85*

The critic praises Schoenbrun's third feature as their most accomplished and playful yet, a meta slasher homage blending sex, death, VHS nostalgia and junk food into a queered exploration of desire and pop culture. Anderson and Einbinder deliver standout performances in this delirious, self-aware tribute that smuggle deeper themes into schlocky fun.

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IndieWire
3 August 2026 · B+ · Ryan Lattanzio
83

Schoenbrun delivers an affectionate meta-horror homage that aims for the heart as much as the head, sparked by the sapphic chemistry between Anderson and Einbinder. It blends slasher tropes with explorations of orgasms, fandom, and personal transformation in a unique, playful way.

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Evening Standard
8 June 2026 · festival review · Hannah Pettit
80*

The critic describes the film as a wildly original love-letter and takedown of 80s slasher tropes that is lighter, sillier, complex and layered. They praise its distinctive vision, deep love of movies, and how it uses the franchise to explore identity, sexuality and self-acceptance through silly, sexy and gleefully funny means.

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Sight and Sound
19 May 2026 · festival review
80*

The critic finds Schoenbrun’s meta slasher wise, kind and playful about sex and cinema, urging viewers to surrender to its pleasures rather than over-intellectualise. It singles out the believable invented mythos and the warm, self-aware space created by its trans presences and boundary-breaking approach to fantasy and desire.

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The Telegraph
14 May 2026 · festival review
80*

The review highlights the film's extravagant, funny, and unsettling qualities as a satire and paean to problematic cinema. Gillian Anderson is praised for her knowing, vampish performance as the horror queen.

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Film Comment
festival review · Jonathan Romney
65*

The critic notes that many viewers will enjoy the film's blend of thrills and self-reflexive theory, with strong performances from the leads, but suggests those not invested in gore or hyper-kitsch may find it cold.

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The Hollywood Reporter
13 May 2026 · festival review · Richard Lawson

Schoenbrun uses a fictional slasher franchise as a portal to explore identity, desire, and personal hang-ups about sex. The film is heady and strange, more abstract than emotionally resonant as the director's previous work, but captivating in its confusion, honesty, and comic touch.

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/Film
3 August 2026 · 8.5/10 · Witney Seibold
85

The critic praises the film as a profound media analysis of 1980s slashers through a queer lens, highlighting its exploration of emotional catharsis and sexual discovery. They single out the conversations between the characters and the dreamlike visual style for particular acclaim, while noting some pacing issues.

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Collider
14 May 2026 · 8/10 · Emma Kiely
80

The critic praises the film as an erotic, tantalizing meta-slasher made for fans that explores identity, desire, and selfhood through its leads' chemistry and Schoenbrun's vision. Pacing issues in the second half are noted as a minor drawback.

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The Skinny
14 May 2026 · ★★★★ · Iana Murray
80

The review praises the film's ambitious take on slasher tropes as a vehicle for queer awakening and bodily pleasure, highlighting its tonal balance and production design.

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Deadline
13 May 2026 · festival review · Damon Wise

The critic calls it an instant midnight-movie classic and psychedelic tribute to early '80s slasher films that reclaims the genre from the male gaze. They single out the explosive mix of fear and desire along with Hannah Einbinder's strong, vulnerable lead performance.

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The Wrap
13 May 2026 · festival review

The critic describes the film as a haunting, spellbinding vision that interrogates themes of body comfort, desire, and transformation via slasher tropes and meta elements. They praise the visceral imagery, tacky genre thrills blended with existential ideas, and the inventive production design.

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Ordered by the weight we give each publication, then by score. Scores are normalised to 100; * means inferred from an unrated review. Summaries are ours, not quotations; follow the links for the reviews themselves. How we rate