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Geek Tyrant
5 days ago
- Business
- Geek Tyrant
Mikey Madison in Talks to Replace Sydney Sweeney in A24 Edgar Allen Poe Drama THE MASQUE OF THE RED DEATH — GeekTyrant
Best Actress Oscar winner Mikey Madison ( Anora ) is in talks to replace Sydney Sweeney in A24's feature adaptation of Edgar Allen Poe's The Masque of the Red Death . No official deal is done yet. The film is being billed as a 'wildly revisionist' take on the short story from filmmaker Charlie Polinger. Madison will reportedly portray twin sisters in a world where a mad prince (Prince Prospero in the original 1842 short story) welcomes wealthy elites into his castle as plague spreads across the land. The long-lost twin, who lives among the lower class, enters the castle in what is an atmosphere of drugs, sex and game of thrones as Prospero throws a masquerade ball in seven rooms, each decorated with a different color. In the original short, a mysterious figure enters the castle disguised as a Red Death victim. Prospero dies after confronting the stranger, along with many other guests. Sweeney reportedly stepped back due to scheduling conflicts. She is currently in production on Season 3 of HBO's Euphoria and Legendary's feature take of Japanese IP Gundam this fall. Polinger is currently in post on his next film The Plague , which was made independently and stars Joel Edgerton. Madison is also attached to Reptilia , the latest movie from filmmaker Alejandro Landes Echavarría. The film will co-star Kirsten Dunst and is based on a script by Landes Echavarría and Duke Merriman. Masque of the Red Death will shoot in either Q4 of this year or Q1 2026. via: Deadline
Yahoo
25-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Cannes Premiere ‘The Plague' Twists the Pock-Marked Perils of Adolescence Into Body Horror — with Joel Edgerton
Cannes festival director Thierry Frémaux promised that this year's Un Certain Regard sidebar lineup would be more driven by narrative and genre than years past. Looking at Charlie Polinger's feature directing debut 'The Plague,' he wasn't kidding. This harrowing, 35mm-shot story of pubescent boys tormenting each other at a water polo summer camp doubles as a coming-of-age drama and an adolescent, acne-scarred body-horror nightmare. The 12- and 13-year-olds populating its frames are all afraid of catching an imagined (or not?) contagion — let's call it puberty — that turns their brains into 'mush,' one says, and manifests with psoriasis-like lesions on their bodies. But the words and almost ritualistic humiliations they exchange (think the mocking of speech impediments and centipedes thrown into your bed at night) are even more wounding. More from IndieWire 'Hurry Up Tomorrow' Review: The Weeknd's Emotionally Threadbare Vanity Project Is All Skips, No Repeats 'Re-Animator' Star Barbara Crampton Looks Back on Her Genre Breakout with Nothing but Love (and Some 'Slippery, Gooey' Memories) Polinger, an AFI Conservatory grad working with many of his fellow alumni including cinematographer Steven Breckon, based this disturbing and personal film on his own experiences as a kid at an all-boys summer sports camp, culling from his rediscovered journals to write the script. Millennials who came of age in the aughts ('The Plague' is set in summer 2003) will recognize the touchstones, from the period music references to the Capri-Suns everyone seems to be slurping. 'I was leaning into the Capri-Sun, into sort of this pre-internet or very early internet age, with the kind of jokes that they make,' Polinger told IndieWire. Joel Edgerton, who stars as the boys' generous but out-of-his-depth coach in terms of dealing with unruly and toxic boys, initially received the script from Polinger's agent and wanted to direct it. 'I was like, 'I really have to direct this one. It's too special to me.' He was just really cool about it. We ended up getting on a call. He really related to the themes, the social dynamics of these kids, and bullying, and his own experiences being a 12-year-old boy in Australia. He basically just said, look, I'm happy to produce the film and act in the film, and do anything I can to help get this made.' Polinger and his casting director Rebecca Dealy ('Hereditary') looked at thousands of tapes of kids to cast the right ensemble. They landed on 'Griffin in Summer' star Everett Blunck as Ben, the hero of this story if there is one, and the seemingly innocent kid through whose eyes we see the film. The kind of kid who will see with his awkward, ruthlessly bullied peer who's left alone at the cafeteria. They found Kayo Martin, who plays the camp's freckled top bully Jake who presides over the cool-kids table with imperious authority, off social media. It's a breakout performance for a young star. 'He felt exactly like the type of bully or character who messes with your head in a way that I feel like I haven't seen represented in a movie or TV show very often because he's always very understated,' Polinger said. 'You never know if he's joking or not, and it really kind of gets inside your head. He is so comfortable hanging out with adults all the time and going around New York, going to all the bagel shops and all these places [where Martin does social media pranks], and he does have a certain maturity level that can actually play very uncanny in the situation with other boys.' There are scenes in 'The Plague' that pit the child actors into adult scenarios that are, in real life, likely familiar to them. In one scene, they share sexual fantasies and talk about masturbation from across each other's bunk beds. Directing children always comes with its own set of challenges, even with parents on set, but Polinger and his team worked with an intimacy coordinator to burrow into these most uncomfortable (but relatable) moments. 'The first day with the intimacy coordinator, we all sat around and we were talking about the scene, and she was coming at it very delicately: 'Is this something that you guys know about?' And they were miles ahead of her in terms of what they already knew and the jokes that they were making,' Polinger said. 'It was really important to me that we were capturing that age in a real way. [The actors] were very fearless and just excited to dive into it… They were so much more mature than you would imagine.' In terms of references for the film's more horror-leaning later stretches, Polinger wanted to combine the feel of 1980s and aughts coming-of-age teen movies with a more genre-oriented sensibility (comparisons to 'Black Swan,' eventually, are invited). 'I love those movies about boys, though I often feel like a lot of movies about young boys are either a little more sort of broey hangout or a little more nostalgic, kind of biking-around-the-suburbs type of thing,' he said. Movies like Bo Burnham's 'Eighth Grade' and Julia Ducournau's 'Raw,' he said, 'capture a social dread and vulnerability of your body and something you don't see as much with boys because it requires a certain vulnerability to be an object of terror in that way… I was even looking at some sort of dread-filled, 'Shining' daylight kinds of horror movies, [with] huge imposing spaces.' Movies about military situations, like Stanley Kubrick's 'Full Metal Jacket,' also came to mind. Even Claire Denis' 'Beau Travail,' which is 'such an incredible exploration of masculinity.' Every rising indie filmmaker these days wants to shoot on film — who doesn't? — which can be a big upfront non-negotiable from a first-time director. But 'The Plague' benefits from that celluloid touch, making the movie like a grainy memory of a bad dream. 'It was pretty challenging. We had to find some additional funds to do it. We got a lot of help from Kodak. [It was] definitely hard, and especially with kids and pools and all the other variables that add more time, and having tight days. The film [aspect] just added a whole other wrench into it,' Polinger said, though 'The Plague' did shoot during a sweltering summertime when the kid actors were out of school. Shooting on film, though, he said, 'just made it feel magical. We were capturing something that felt timeless and, to me, there's no comparison. It looks so great to shoot on film, and these kids' faces and closeups just rendered in such a beautiful way.' 'The Plague' will seek a distributor at Cannes, though Polinger already has wind in his sails with another movie lined up, and at A24: an adaptation of Edgar Allan Poe's 'The Masque of the Red Death' starring Sydney Sweeney. 'The Plague,' which Polinger wants to be seen in theaters, would be a smart fit for any distributor looking for a risky genre offering, and one that offers no easy answers about the prickly (and, yes, pimply) perils of adolescence. 'The Plague' premieres at Cannes on Thursday, May 16. It is currently seeking U.S. distribution. Best of IndieWire The 19 Best Thrillers Streaming on Netflix in May, from 'Fair Play' to 'Emily the Criminal' Martin Scorsese's Favorite Movies: 86 Films the Director Wants You to See Christopher Nolan's Favorite Movies: 44 Films the Director Wants You to See
CairoScene
20-05-2025
- Entertainment
- CairoScene
‘The Plague' Is a Coming-of-Age Body Horror That Hits Hard
'The Plague' Is a Coming-of-Age Body Horror That Hits Hard We're inside the pool, looking up. Everything is still. A body plunges in. It shatters the calm. Bubbles explode like fireworks. Another splash follows, then another. Heads dip under and rise again. Legs kick furiously, desperate and uncoordinated. The kids kick their feet to stay above the water. Their movements aren't graceful. It's pure survival. Each kick is a plea to stay above, to breathe. We quickly realise they're kids in a water polo practice who have been tossed into the deep end of the pool. Twelve is the age when life stops being still. It's when the calm ends and the struggle begins. It's hard to believe 'The Plague' is Charlie Polinger's first feature film. His direction is remarkably confident, distinct, and entirely his own. The film premiered in Un Certain Regard to rapturous applause, and I'm sure it will go down as one of the most promising debuts of the year. A chilling descent into the horrors of bullying, 'The Plague' captures the suffocating dread of being young, isolated, and targeted by other peers. It's one of the most effective horror films on the subject ever made. And yes, that includes Brian DePalma's Carrie. This is no light compliment. 'I wanted to explore the violence and vulnerability of boyhood in a way I hadn't seen on screen. Many coming-of-age films, particularly about boys, tend to be comedic or nostalgic, but for me, being 12 felt more like a living hell of social anxiety,' Polinger tells CairoScene. In the film, this anxiety stems mostly from the fear of getting acne. Only the kids in this water polo team refer to it as 'the plague'. It's something we've all felt at that age. That feeling when you wake up and go straight to the mirror. You're afraid of what you'll see. Your fingers already reaching for skin that might betray you. And then you spot it. A red bump forming on your forehead, cheek, or chin. You feel that slow panic build up. The way your confidence vanishes in seconds. The walk to class feels longer. Every glance feels like judgment. You keep your head down, avoid eye contact, and pray no one notices. It's not just about skin. It's about shame, exposure, and the unbearable feeling that everyone's looking. Even when they're not. Polinger shoots this very specific stage of puberty like a body horror film, and it works brilliantly. It's one of those ideas that feels so obvious in retrospect, you wonder why no one's done it before. Even if this ground has been explored, it's never been shot quite like this. The cinematography is incredibly stylised, and the score is deeply unsettling. Together, they turn adolescence into something monstrous. The film focuses on Ben, a quiet and observant newcomer who becomes the target of increasing cruelty and humiliation from his peers. At the centre of their fixation is 'the plague,' a slang term they use to describe acne. It's treated like a contagious curse. What begins as teasing escalates into ritualistic torment. The kids unite against whoever shows signs of the infection. The story explores how fear, shame, and group dynamics contribute to the brutal enforcement of conformity. With haunting visuals and a disturbing sound design, 'The Plague' captures the suffocating anxiety of being young, vulnerable, and different. The coach, played by Joel Edgerton, is a steady presence on the sidelines. He's there to keep things in order. When he suspects bullying, he confronts Ben and tells him that this, like everything in life, will eventually pass. But kids don't have the patience to wait. When they're being bullied, time doesn't move forward. It slows down. Every second stretches. What adults call 'a phase' feels, in the moment, like forever. The cast of child actors is incredible, especially Everett Blunck in the lead role and Kayo Martin as Jake, the ringleader of the bullies. Jake has a way of spotting the tiniest flaw. You see a smirk creep across his face. He's like a lion who's just spotted a wounded prey. The moment he realises Ben has a lisp, he locks onto it. Calls it out, mocks him, and turns it into a nickname that sticks like a scar. The film also explores how you can find yourself on both sides of the line, bullied or bully. And when you do it just to fit in, being the bully can feel frustrating and painful. There's a particular kind of ache that comes from betraying your own sense of right and wrong just to avoid becoming a target yourself. It's the slow burn of shame. The quiet guilt that lingers long after the laughter fades. It's not the pain of being hurt. It's the pain of hurting someone else. The film doesn't let you look away from that. It shows you the ugly side of both ends and makes you sit with it. Just when you think you know where the film is headed, it surprises you. The ending, in particular, stayed with me. It's cathartic in a way that sneaks up on you. It felt raw, emotional, and beautifully earned. A big part of that impact comes from its killer soundtrack, which features a perfectly placed Moby track that elevates the final moments into something unforgettable.
