The Plague (2025) review

Middle school student Ben (Everett Blunck) is sent by his (cheating) mother to the Tom Lerner Water Polo Camp during the summer of 2003 where he attempts to fit in with the popular boys there, with Jake (Kayo Martin) as their leader, and joins them in mocking weirdo Eli (Kenny Rasmussen) - who suffers from a skin condition the kids refer to as "The Plague" - but when Ben tries to show Eli some pity, Jake and his sycophants ostracize him too.  The depiction of (young) toxic masculinity - inspired most likely by William Golding's novel Lord of the Flies as well as Claire Denis' film Beau Travail - is intriguing, but Polinger (in his directorial debut) doesn't quite have a handle on this thing called "nuance," constantly increasing the bullying and group hysteria until there's violence (both in the pool and outside of it).  There's a notable lack of real adult supervision - instructor "Daddy Wags" (Joel Edgerton) isn't the ideal "disciplinarian" - or medical professionals to provide proper care for the children (I recognize the title affliction is there for "symbolic purposes") and even after it introduces females to the scenario it doesn't change the characters in any substantial way (since they're trapped in their "masturbatory stage").  Polinger did do a fine job assembling his cast - Martin and Rasmussen are exceptional - and their collective excellence help keep it watchable.