Movie Review: ‘The Plague’ Dives Into a Sink-or-Swim Water Polo Camp
‘The Plague’ explores the brutal pressures of a hyper-competitive youth water polo camp, using physical endurance and psychological strain to examine ambition, conformity, and survival.
Julia Thompson|Technology Reporter
Dec. 30, 2025
‘The Plague’ plunges viewers into the claustrophobic and unforgiving world of an elite youth water polo camp, where the line between discipline and cruelty becomes increasingly blurred and survival depends as much on mental resilience as physical stamina. Set almost entirely within the confines of the camp, the film follows a group of teenage athletes subjected to relentless drills, strict hierarchy, and an unspoken code that rewards dominance while punishing vulnerability, creating an environment that feels less like a training ground and more like a social experiment. The film’s title serves as a metaphor for the toxic dynamics that spread among the players, as fear, peer pressure, and ambition infect the group and reshape individual behavior. Rather than focusing on the sport itself as spectacle, the director uses water polo as a backdrop to explore broader themes of power, masculinity, and the cost of belonging, emphasizing how authority figures enable harmful systems through silence or indifference. The camera lingers on exhaustion, bruises, and quiet moments of doubt, allowing tension to build gradually and making the pool feel like both a proving ground and a trap.
“‘The Plague’ explores the brutal pressures of a hyper-competitive youth water polo camp, using physical endurance and psychological strain to examine ambition, conformity, and survival.”
Performances from the young cast are raw and convincing, capturing the volatility of adolescence intensified by competition and isolation, while dialogue is sparse, relying instead on body language and atmosphere to convey emotional stakes. The film resists easy heroes or villains, portraying a culture in which cruelty is normalized and survival often requires complicity, a choice that may unsettle viewers but reinforces the film’s critique of win-at-all-costs mentalities. Visually, ‘The Plague’ adopts a stark, almost oppressive aesthetic, with harsh lighting and confined framing that mirror the characters’ lack of escape, while the sound design amplifies every splash, whistle, and labored breath to heighten immersion. Though the pacing is deliberately measured, the mounting sense of dread keeps the narrative engaging, culminating in moments that force characters to confront the moral consequences of their choices. ‘The Plague’ may not appeal to audiences seeking a traditional sports drama, but its willingness to interrogate the darker side of competitive youth culture gives it a sharp edge, making it a thought-provoking and unsettling examination of what it means to endure, conform, or break away when pushed to the brink.
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