'Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma,' directed by Jane Schoenbrun, debuted at the 2026 Cannes Film Festival on May 14, 2026 [1, 2]. The film opens the Un Certain Regard category and marks a fresh take on the slasher genre [2].
The story centers on a fictional horror franchise, Camp Miasma, exploring themes of sex, death, fandom, identity, and body image through a blend of reality and fiction [1, 3, 2]. The plot includes the killer Little Death, a masked figure played by Jack Haven, who ominously awakens at the bottom of a campsite lake [1, 2].
Gillian Anderson stars as the original Camp Miasma films' 'final girl,' while Hannah Einbinder portrays a young queer filmmaker engaging with the legacy of the franchise [1, 3, 2]. Einbinder related closely to the film’s themes, saying, "I think everybody experiences that, and it’s really not often talked about, especially in the context of a sapphic relationship" [2].
Director Schoenbrun, who is transgender, said the project reflects complex feelings about the slasher genre’s history of transphobic portrayals. They acknowledged, "(They) also instilled in me a deep internalized transphobia that a huge part of early transition involved getting over" [2]. The film aims to reinvent genre conventions through this personal lens [2].
The theatrical release of 'Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma' is scheduled for August 7, 2026 [1].
