One of today’s most ambitiously talented horror filmmakers, Jane Schoenbrun broke out in a big way with A24’s 2024 horror fantasy “I Saw the TV Glow.” The film, which grossed $5.4 million, proved to be both a critical and fan success. Despite the roaring praise, A24 passed on Schoenbrun’s follow-up, an indie slasher ultimately financed by MUBI on a $10 million budget.
“Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma” reconfigures summer camp slashers of yore, namely “Friday the 13th” and “Sleepaway Camp,” for a more introspective, but still gory, slasher adventure. Ahead of its release on August 7, 2026, a member of the crew shared a behind-the-scenes glimpse into the film’s cinematic production design.
Creating the Magic of Jane Schoenbrun’s Latest
Production designer Matt Hyland took to Twitter/X to share a rare first look at how the film’s magic came together. “I’ll make a real process post at some point, but for now sharing a little BTS of our optical glass matte shot,” he shared, attaching a 13-second clip of the shot in real time and from behind the camera.
The shot in particular comes when “Hackers” star Hannah Einbinder, as filmmaker Kris, steps in front of a cabin, and the viewer is given a look at the rose-tinted skyline nestled among snow-capped mountains. Hyland’s video shows optical glass matte layered over the actual footage, creating a dreamy, surrealist landscape.
Einbinder’s Kris character has been tasked with remaking the slasher classic, “Camp Miasma,” and she heads to the home of the original star, Billy (Gillian Anderson), for research. The story follows the pair as they relive the first film and its place in modern culture. The cast also includes Dylan Baker (“Trick ‘r Treat”), Jasmin Savoy Brown (“Scream,” “Yellowjackets”), Zach Cherry (“Severance”), Sarah Sherman (“Saturday Night Live”) and Patrick Fischler (“Mulholland Drive”).
Schoenbrun’s Deeply Personal Blood-Soaked Slasher
1980s slashers contained two essential things: blood and sex. Writer/director Jane Schoenbrun flips those on their head with “Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma,” a slasher with not just bite but a whole lot of heart. The film “came from being at a point after the intensity of early transition, and of blowing up one’s life so that I could become myself, where I was starting to really enjoy being me, and where the world was starting to feel like it had some color in it,” they told AV Club.
Specifically, Schoenbrun wanted to explore sexuality and “just being able to be the person I had always wanted to be without shame or embarrassment,” they added. “It was also really tender. Learning how to undo many, many years of internalized shame and trauma and dissociation from being able to be present in my own self sexually.”
Jane Schoenbrun also saw quite a bit of buzz around their feature film debut, 2021’s horror drama “We’re All Going to the World’s Fair,” a dissection of companionship and belonging online. They are also a producer behind another buzzy up-and-coming filmmaker, Alice Maio Mackay’s new film, “Our Effed Up World,” an alien invasion feature.
