The cinema of Jane Schoenbrun is full of director surrogates, but few have felt closer to home than Kris (Hannah Einbender), an emerging filmmaker whose sexual frustration is reflected in her rigourously academic approach to her work, a worldview which is upended when she is hired to ‘reinvigorate’ the musty carcass of ‘70s slasher franchise Camp Miasma, whose influence has waned in the wake of endless shoddy sequels and cash-ins.
Hoping to glean insights on how to tell a new story in this universe, Kris seeks out the original film’s final girl, Billy Preston (Gillian Anderson), a seductive recluse who lives in the hollowed-out set where she once found cinema stardom. Snowed in, Kris and Billy find their attraction spiralling into psychosexual mania as the line between reality and Miasma blurs.
Schoenbrun’s attempt at the ‘sleepover classic’, Camp Miasma is at once hugely transgressive and invitingly cosy. As Kris finds freedom from over-intellectualising in the sublimity of sexual liberation, Schoenbrun takes their place as one of America’s most important young filmmakers, succeeding I Saw the TV Glow’s devastating lament for the life unlived for a mesmeric ode to horniness and matching your own freak.
‘A steamy stew of sex, death, VHS and junk food, Schoenbrun’s delirious third film is their most accomplished, most persuasive and most playful movie yet.’ - Jessica Kiang, Variety
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Local tip
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Head to Stark’s Café and Bar for a pre-show cocktail, beer or wine. It opens 90 minutes before any show or event at The Civic.
Getting there
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By car, head to The Civic car park near Queen Street where you’ll find plenty of affordable paid parking. By train, head to Waitematā Station and walk up Queen Street for around 10 minutes to reach The Civic. Alternatively, take a bus to the Queen Street or Wellesley Street bus stops, which are both within a short walking distance.
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