Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma held its Los Angeles premiere at the DGA Theatre Complex on July 29, offering audiences their first look at Jane Schoenbrun’s latest feature. Starring Hannah Einbinder and Gillian Anderson, the psychological horror drama explores themes of desire, identity, and self-discovery. The film is scheduled to open in theatres on August 7.
Einbinder stars as Kris, a queer writer hired to revive the struggling slasher franchise Camp Miasma, which has lost momentum after years of poorly received sequels. To better understand the series, Kris travels to an abandoned summer camp to meet Billy, played by Anderson, the reclusive actress who portrayed the franchise’s iconic final girl.
What begins as a creative partnership gradually evolves into something far more complicated as both women confront how deeply Camp Miasma has shaped their lives. Schoenbrun has described the film as an “insane yet cozy midnight odyssey,” blending psychological horror with an intimate exploration of identity and desire.
Following five seasons of Hacks, where her character Ava shared a complex professional and personal dynamic with Jean Smart’s Deborah Vance, Einbinder once again finds herself exploring an emotionally layered relationship with an older woman. Speaking to The Hollywood Reporter at the premiere, she joked, “There’s a Sabrina Carpenter lyric like ‘I swear they choose me, I’m not choosing them.’ People just come to me and I happen to respond to it. I love it, I’m all for it.”
To prepare for the central relationship, Einbinder said she immersed herself in what she called the “psychosexual canon,” citing Secretary, The Duke of Burgundy, and David Cronenberg’s Crash as key influences. She explained that the films helped shape her approach to every scene opposite Anderson.
Anderson revealed that she came to the project with little familiarity with the horror genre. Speaking to The Hollywood Reporter, she said she had avoided horror films since a frightening childhood experience and admitted she was unfamiliar with the cultural significance of the “final girl” archetype before joining the production. Through conversations with Schoenbrun, however, she gained a new appreciation for the concept and said the experience has made her interested in returning to the genre in the future.
For Schoenbrun, the project began with its striking title, which came to them before the story itself. The filmmaker said Camp Miasma draws heavily from their own experiences of discovering their identity and sexuality after transitioning, describing the period as feeling like a “second puberty.”
The film continues Schoenbrun’s tradition of weaving deeply personal experiences into genre storytelling, following We’re All Going to the World’s Fair and I Saw the TV Glow. It also marks the filmmaker’s third feature and most ambitious project to date.
Earlier this year, Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma screened as the closing-night selection at the Frameline50 Film Festival in San Francisco, where Schoenbrun received the Frameline Queer Lens Award for Filmmaking, presented to a queer filmmaker whose singular vision has made an indelible impact on the art form.
Alongside Einbinder and Anderson, the film also stars Jack Haven, Jasmin Savoy Brown, Eva Victor, Zach Cherry, Sarah Sherman, Dylan Baker, Kevin McDonald, Quintessa Swindell, and Patrick Fischler.
Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma opens in theatres on August 7, following its Los Angeles premiere and recent festival screenings. The film marks Schoenbrun’s latest exploration of identity through genre filmmaking while bringing together two acclaimed performers in one of the summer’s most anticipated independent releases.
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