Teenage Sex and Death at the movies, by Tyler Henson

BY TYLER HENSON

Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma (112 mins)

An indie festival hit that’s gotten some excellent critical response, Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma is filmmaker Jane Schoenbrun’s love letter to 80’s slasher films like Friday the 13th (1980) and Sleepaway Camp (1983).

Kris (Hannah Einbinder), a Queer filmmaker hired to reboot an ailing slasher franchise called Camp Miasma, shows up at the original camp where the first film was shot and meets with its reclusive star, Billy Presley (Gillian Anderson), who is living on the property. As they discuss the project, Kris begins to be subsumed into the reality of the Miasma films.

Rather than using this premise to rehash slasher cliches with an added level of self-awareness, á la Scream (1996), Schoenbrun goes for something deeper and stranger. This is a story of sexual awakening and personal discovery, with the slasher genre acting as a symbolic framework for exploring Kris’ innermost fantasies and desires.

It’s a difficult movie to properly describe. Schoenbrun, writer/director of I Saw the TV Glow (2024), is already among the most original voices working today. They have delivered another one-of-a-kind movie, part slasher satire, part personal essay, and part dreamlike fantasia.

Viewers willing to make the leap into its world, and who speak this particular language of obsessive horror-literacy, will find much to enjoy and discuss. Queer audiences will also connect with Shoenbrun’s special ability to articulate and visualize elusive aspects of Queer sexuality and gender identity.
Currently playing at Cinemark Century Downtown Pleasant Hill

The Dog Stars (119mins)

Director Ridley Scott’s post-apocalyptic thriller is a confirmed box office bomb. Jacob Elordi stars as former mechanic Hig, surviving in the wastes of civilization after a devastating disease outbreak. Josh Brolin plays Bangley, his brutally pragmatic partner. For Bangley, staying alive means following one simple rule; kill or be killed. Hig doesn’t have the stomach for that, and must live for something more. He sets out in his plane to track the source of a mysterious radio signal, hoping to find a better future.

Scott’s low-key treatment of this material has not gone over well. The story goes on an odd detour in the second half, and instead of building in intensity, it seems to lose almost all suspense by the last half-hour. This is not a relentlessly dark, visceral thrill ride in the same mode as Alien: Covenant (2017). This is a softer film, and shows Scott in a reflective mood. The eighty-eight year old master seems to be reminding us to appreciate what we have while it’s still here. Time, for all of us, is limited, so we must figure out how to use it well. I found it moving, but I knew it would be a tough sell. If you’re interested, see it soon, because it won’t stick around much longer.

Idiots (100mins)

Mark (Dave Franco) and Davis (O’Shea Jackson Jr.) are two hapless losers thrown together by chance to transport a spoiled teen, Sheridan (Mason Thames), to a rehab center. Poor decisions have put each of their lives into a tailspin. Davis wants to do good, Mark less so, but both are basically decent people at heart. Not so with Sheridan, who we learn is a budding sociopath with a devoted online following. His deranged antics will quickly turn this simple trip into an out-of-control disaster.

Scripted and directed by Macon Blair, best known as an actor in the wildly tense and violent indie thrillers of Jeremy Saulnier – Blue Ruin (2013), Green Room (2015) – Idiots is Blair’s third film as writer/director. His first, the underseen dark comedy gem I Don’t Feel at Home in This World Anymore (2017), showcased a talent for creating oddball characters and alarming comic situations that suddenly escalate into violence.

Idiots showcases those same talents, without quite the same level of focus. It has uneven stretches and gets off to a very shaky start. Early on, Mark accidentally overdoses on drugs and graphically loses control of his bowels. That will probably be the moment when most will know whether they’re willing to go along for the ride. The scene would be treated as outrageous comedy in any other movie. Blair adds a disturbing realism. The film is funny, but underneath the humor is a constant, threatening edge.

It finds its footing around the halfway mark, going on a stretch of nerve-wracking suspense and wacko unpredictability. The strongest scenes involve a shoddy band of aspiring criminals, led by a very funny Peter Dinklage and featuring a truly inspired performance by Nicholas Braun as a character who calls himself Pricka Bush Da Werewoof. Once this bunch shows up, the film generates the kind of excitement and dread that can only come from having no idea what’s about to happen next.

Franco and Jackson make a surprisingly good screen pairing. Mark and Davis, true to the film’s title, never know how to properly handle the insanity thrown at them. The two form an unlikely yet believable bond as they navigate the consequences. Thames, however, might be a little too good as Sheridan. The character is so effectively hateful, I wasn’t willing to go along with the moments when Blair’s screenplay asks us to sympathize with him. The story never quite figures out how to properly handle his monstrousness.

Idiots doesn’t come together into a satisfying whole, and Blair will likely go on to make better movies, but there was enough here that impressed me I’ll say it’s still worth a look for anyone interested in this kind of screws-loose indie filmmaking. Blair’s sensibility won’t be for everyone though, so proceed with caution.

The Odyssey (173 mins)

Have you seen The Odyssey yet? Because almost everyone else has. Matt Damon stars as Odysseus, who survives the Trojan War only to endure the most protracted and challenging journey home anyone could imagine. He and his men face sirens, giants, a cyclops, and the wrath of the gods themselves. Year after year passes at sea and their numbers gradually dwindle.

Meanwhile, back home at Ithaca, Queen Penelope (Anne Hathaway) keeps at bay a horde of impatient potential suitors, including the conniving Antinous (Robert Pattinson), as her son Telemachus (Tom Holland) tries to figure out what happened to his dad. Christopher Nolan’s star-studded adaptation of Homer’s epic poem, one of the foundational texts of Western literature, features some of the most eye-popping images you’ll see all year. The scale of the production is incredible and the IMAX 70mm photography captures the massive scenes with remarkable detail and clarity.

The film was shot almost entirely on location and the majority of its effects were accomplished in-camera, so when you see hundreds of soldiers hauling the enormous Trojan horse over miles of landscape, you’re seeing it for real. Even fantastic creations like the cyclops have been done with puppetry and trick-perspective. Already a front runner for Best Picture and many other awards, The Odyssey, will likely be dominating the movie conversation for the rest of the year. It was made for theater screens, so make sure you don’t miss it.

The End of Oak Street (99 mins)

The End of Oak Street sticks around another week and I’m going to voice my approval once more. This is maybe the most overlooked major release of the summer. Anne Hathaway and Ewan McGregor star as Denise and Greg Platt, who wake up one day to find their entire suburban neighborhood somehow transplanted hundreds of millions of years into the past. Everyday problems with money and marital tension give way to more pressing matters, like keeping themselves and their teenage children from becoming meals for hungry dinosaurs.

Producer J.J. Abrams and writer/director David Robert Mitchell have harkened back to the humor, horror, and family drama of 80’s favorites like Poltergeist (1982). Much of the look and feel is borrowed from the classics of Steven Spielberg; the scares and thrills of Jurassic Park (1993); the suburban fantasy of E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (1982). Mitchell also throws in a few tricks of his own. I had a great time with this movie. It’s short, it’s crafted with expert skill, and it’s a satisfying throwback to an earlier era of blockbuster. I encourage everyone to gather some friends and popcorn and see it while they still can.

All of the above movies other than Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma are currently playing at the Contra Costa Cinema. You can visit https://contracostacinema.com for both current and upcoming showtimes.