Growing up, I learned rather quickly that kids can be cruel beyond my expectations. For most of my adolescence, I weighed 87 pounds due to Crohn’s disease. My classmates did not understand what I was going through – neither did I most of the time – but that did not keep them from going out of their way to bully, demean, and torture me, emotionally and physically. Today, Charlie Polinger is transforming those pent-up feelings I have into a trailer for his new film, The Plague. I advise you to proceed with caution, friends, as today’s preview could dredge up old memories you wish would remain beneath the surface.
Here’s an official synopsis for The Plague, courtesy of IFC (Independent Film Company):
At an all-boys water polo camp, a socially anxious twelve-year-old is pulled into a cruel tradition targeting an outcast with an illness they call “The Plague.” But as the lines between game and reality blur, he fears the joke might be hiding something real.
In today’s trailer for The Plague, Joel Edgerton is the coach of a boy’s water polo program. As he tries to comfort a young man who’s new to the class, we discover cruelty among the group aimed at a swimmer with a skin condition. Nicknamed “The Plague,” this young man takes the group’s ridicule in stride, but is there any truth to the rumors, jokes, and name-calling? Despite its brief runtime, the trailer is extraordinarily effective in creating a chilling mood, getting to the heart of the matter with precision. As the preview’s intensity ramps up, we learn that the boy with the skin condition could be hiding something far more sinister beneath the surface.
“From script to completion this film has always had a very strong vision,” said Edgerton about Polinger’s screenplay. “Charlie Polinger is a filmmaker with a great future ahead. I’m proud to have been part of his first film along with these incredible producers and companies.”
What do you think about Charlie Polinger’s trailer for The Plague? Does it elicit any harsh memories for you? Let us know in the comments section below.
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