Cannes horror-comedy 'Camp Miasma' wins Queer Palm, blends slasher gore with gender and intimacy themes

At Cannes' Un Certain Regarde competition, Jane Schoenbrun unveiled the horror-comedy 'Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma,' a reimagining of an 80s slasher stripped of its original transphobic killer. Hannah Einbinder portrays Kris Williams, a genre-obsessed filmmaker tasked with reviving the series, who partners with Gillian Anderson's character Billy Presley, the original final girl who vanished after the first film.

Schoenbrun, having transitioned in their late thirties, frames the story around personal experiences of gender dysphoria and sexual intimacy, questioning how bodies connect with desire. The movie received a nine-minute standing ovation and captured the Queer Palm, marking a milestone for the director who previously attended Cannes as a producer. Production incorporated intimacy coordinator Aryn Mott to choreograph explicit scenes, aiming for authenticity without predatory dynamics. Reviewers praise the blend of classic slasher aesthetics with a nuanced critique of transphobia and teenage sexuality.