Star Wars Actor’s New Thriller Gets 100% Score on Rotten Tomatoes

Joel Edgerton‘s new drama thriller film, The Plague, has received a perfect score on Rotten Tomatoes. It has also garnered positive reviews from critics, who praised the film’s story, subject, and themes. Set at a water polo camp, The Plague’s story follows a socially awkward boy who gets caught in the camp’s cruel and harsh hierarchy.

Charlie Polinger’s feature directorial debut hit U.S. theaters on December 24, 2025. Besides having acted in the film, Edgerton also served as a producer.

The Plague reviews lead to a perfect Rotten Tomatoes score

Joel Edgerton’s The Plague has received a 100% certified fresh score on the Tomatometer and a 60% audience score on the Popcornmeter on Rotten Tomatoes. Meanwhile, the film boasts a Metascore of 79 and a user score of 7.3 on Metacritic, both of which point to “Generally Favorable” reception.

The film has received largely positive reviews. Keith Garlington of Keith and the Movies gave it a 4/5 rating. He noted that there were a lot of admirable things about the film and that Polinger had “remarkable vision.” Garlington added that the director used “various arms of cinema to open [people’s] senses to a profoundly serious topic,” calling the movie “a remarkable and significant big screen debut.”

Meanwhile, Jake Coyle of Associated Press gave the film 3/4 stars. He said in his review that it “isn’t a comfortable watch and it’s not meant to be.” He further stated, “This is a movie that makes you all the more thankful for adulthood, just as it renews your sympathy for those still wading such daunting waters.”

Houston Chronicle‘s Cary Darling deemed the film a “gripping feature debut” from Polinger and described it as “entering a bad dream.” However, Darling emphasized that the film was “less a full-blown nightmare and more a nerve-jangling unease that something…sinister is going to happen.”

Besides directing The Plague, Polinger also wrote the screenplay for it. Apart from Joel Edgerton, it stars Everett Blunck, Kayo Martin, Lucas Adler, Caden Burris, and Elliott Heffernan, among others.

Source: Comingsoon.net