By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 4 cats
Director: Jane Schoenbrun
Starring: Dylan Baker | Gillian Anderson | Hannah Einbinder | Jack Haven | Patrick Fischler | Zach Cerry
Year: 2026
Running time: 112
IMDB: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt35298123/
Michael says: “Jane Schoenbrun’s follow-up to I SAW THE TV GLOW moves from sad to joyful in the fascinating take on slasher films being a perverse orgasmic release for many fans of the genre. it’s also an unabashedly queer film with a couple of bravura performances from Hannah Einbinder and Gillian Anderson.
“In Schonebrun’s film, Kris (Einbinder), a young, upcoming & coming director has made a successful push to reimagine the incredibly popular, but now washed out and problematic Camp Miasma franchise about a serial killer created in the 80’s, birthed out of the depths of the lake at a teen summer camp. While searching for the right way to revitalize the franchise, Kris contacts the possibly reclusive ‘last girl’ star of the original Camp Miasma, Billy (Anderson). Kris’ fascination grows into something much more as the two play a cat and mouse game, circling the idea of Camp Miasma with their unique but overlapping interests. It all culminates in a morass of death, desire, and sex that merges cinematic with actual reality.
“With TV fandoms like that of ‘Buffy the Vampire Slayer’ being the focus of TV GLOW, Schoenbrum uses the slasher film genre to explore the pop culture psyche that makes that so popular. Schonebrun weaves sex and desire with isolation and gender to explore the thrill and release felt by so many fans of the genre (and it’s not subtle either — the killer in the Camp Miasma franchise is called ‘little death.’)
This film was a ton of fun, with a heady, academic backbone, but for me, it didn’t quite rise to the level of the filmmaker’s previous works. Perhaps that is because I feel more disconnected to the slasher film source material. 4 cats“