Movie Review: The Plague

 

Michael's Movie Grade: A-

A very effectively disturbing movie. 

Some people tend to attach a certain nostalgia to their teenage years, forgetting that (especially in your early teens) this part of your life is a veritable hell. At least for me middle school was the worst part of my life. Though I still have a lot of my life ahead of me, I still am incredibly thankful I never have to go through that again. Though nothing will ever top Eighth Grade (2018) as the best middle school movie ever, The Plague does a remarkably great job at capturing the horrors of being in your early teens.

 This film follows a boy's water polo team. One of the boys is socially awkward and very weird, so the other boys deem that he has the plague. When one of the boys starts to hang out with this kid, he is surprised when the other kids avoid him like he actually does have the plague. This causes him to wonder if the plague is more than just a joke. 

Though the story is not supernatural, the movie plays like a horror film. This is done down to the way the film is shot and lit as well as the musical score. If you came in the middle of this film not knowing what it was you would clearly think this is a horror movie. This however works perfectly for the story it is telling. The movie after all taps into what were our greatest fears in middle school. It especially taps into the fear of wanting to belong and fit in but being unable to. For a 13-year-old this is much scarier than ghosts or monsters because we all knew that if this was the case then every day of life would be pure torture. Frankly I had not thought too much about middle school recently but watching this movie it all came back to me. This made the film feel all too real, making this an incredibly emotionally effective film. 

Though this is not always an easy movie to watch, it is a very good one. 

-Michael J. Ruhland