No movie currently made in my lifetime has accurately depicted the horrors (and lasting psychological trauma) of bullying quite like Charlie Polinger’s The Plague. To say otherwise essentially means you have not routinely experienced bullying—or being picked on—as a child. What’s illustrated in this quasi-psychological drama is terrifyingly real, perhaps too real. What’s being showcased isn’t exaggerated or heightened, even during sequences where the violence is too gruesome. It’s all real—and that’s the scariest part of it.
Discussion
In his feature filmmaking debut, Polinger shows how bullying forms through the perspective of a tween desperately trying to “fit in” with the group he will spend time with over the summer. His name is Ben (Everett Blunck), and he has been enrolled in a water polo summer camp supervised by an adult coach (Joel Edgerton). Ben desperately tries to make friends and be a part of the “cool” gang, led by Jake (Kayo Martin), who has essentially united all of the players in his circle, except for the “weird one,” Eli (Kenny Rasmussen), a secluded child with a rash on his back that Jake describes as “The Plague.”
Of course, there is no plague; Eli’s rash is not contagious, but the mere thought that it perhaps may be leads Ben to imitate Jake’s behavior, which means cleaning himself every time he accidentally touches Eli or moving away to a different cafeteria table if he sits close to them. It’s downright cruel, but not as much as when Ben begins to be rejected by Jake’s group after he begins to hang out with Eli and understands where he comes from. With that said, the small gestures made in the film’s first part are enough to remind everyone who was on Eli’s side what it felt like to be ostracized and tormented, often for no actual reason.
A Triggering Narrative for Some
Polinger’s storytelling may not be that refined, especially during the movie’s climax, which takes a shockingly violent turn and ends on a more ambiguous note than a satisfying one, but it doesn’t matter. It doesn’t matter because the way in which he and cinematographer Steven Breckon (who staggeringly shoots the picture on 35mm film) visualize the bullying is so visceral that it will inevitably make anyone who repressed the memories they had as a child, in school, experiencing the same horrors Eli and Ben live through, cause flashbacks in front of their eyes in rapid succession.
Personal Anecdote
Even though I’m a decade removed from graduating high school, after twelve years in the elementary and secondary school system, I still remember the names of the people who tormented me. I have never forgiven them, even after they reached out and began following me on social media in the wake of the small “success” I achieved in this space. I never responded to their messages, and I don’t plan to. These people know who they are, know what they did, and will likely have to live with the fact that I do not plan on ever accepting their apologies, considering their cruel actions, as children, were more than unacceptable.
The scars that I’ve carried since then are still palpable. I still remember when one of my bullies put a “Kick Me” sticker on my back during April Fool’s Day in elementary school, and being routinely kicked in the back, without knowing what was going on. The school board did nothing, consistently disregarding what was happening, even after multiple calls from my parents, which led to some punitive action, but never in a way that had a meaningful impact. I might have moved on from this dark period and am focusing on what matters most, but the scars I’ve formed during this time will likely stay with me for the rest of my life.
Polinger’s Depiction of Harm
In The Plague, Polinger makes viewers feel what I’ve exactly described, as Breckon’s camera lingers on the violence or the sharp cutting from editors Simon Njoo and Henry Hayes focus on specific parts of a scene or the body for the impact of the hit not to just be physical, but feel profoundly emotional and set the lasting trauma one will have much later in life. One of the film’s most revealing scenes occurs through a casual conversation between Ben and Eli, with the latter telling the protagonist that he cuts himself, through tiny pricks on his hand, and that it feels “soothing, like a warm bath.”
This should prompt alarm bells for Ben. However, he doesn’t yet understand what Eli is feeling, and what being rejected like this has amplified his loneliness and depression, so much so that he thinks harming himself is the solution to ease his pain. More than a simple film illustrating the harrowing effects bullying can have, The Plague acts as a cry for help for anyone currently suffering, or has suffered and is still reeling through their darkest days in childhood, even if the titular plague’s metaphor for bullying might be a bit too on-the-nose.
To reiterate, though, the perceived flaws of a movie almost don’t matter because what is illustrated makes us aware of how few academic or youth establishment actively takes this epidemic seriously. Edgerton’s coach tries his best to teach his students to do better, but he is far too ill-equipped to grasp that punishing them only furthers their will to torment people they don’t like for reasons that will remain unclear by the time the film ends, just like in real life. Someone always has to be suicidal or be in mortal danger for a school to do something, even if they have the opportunity to take action against bullying before it’s too late.
Final Thoughts on The Plague
The Plague asks us all to reflect on how our actions as adults further the problem that has amplified itself within school walls with the onset of the internet, mobile phones, and, more specifically, social media. And while the short-term impacts of bullying are often acknowledged and sometimes corrected, it is the lasting, permanent ones that can screw up a lifetime. Polinger demands we bear witness. The ones who are currently being bullied in schools around the world deserve for us to hear their cries for help and do something to ensure this never happens to anyone ever again.
Charlie Polinger’s The Plague is now playing in select theaters and will expand later this Friday, January 2nd, 2026!
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