Camp (2026) by Avalon Fast

Director: Avalon Fast

Year: 2026

Country: Canada

Alternate Titles: N/A

Genre: Supernatural

Plot:

Recovering from a personal tragedy, a woman arrives at a Christian summer camp to help get over the incident with other like-minded women, but the longer she stays there, the more the group’s interest in self-discovery and witchcraft puts her on a dangerous path.

Review:

Overall, this works far better as a coming-of-age drama than an outright genre film. This is based on the whole idea of the story retelling a symbolic idea of redemption and discovery, while she discovers an in-depth nature of herself. The early stages of this one, offering a glimpse at her broken nature by revealing the truth about the series of traumatic incidents and accidents that are quickly thrown at her that never once comes together with the kind of judgmental force that comes together with the same sense of urgency that is met with the rest of the girls at the summer camp where her outsider nature of not being interested in religion allows her to fall in with a similar group of women there. Since the building traumas from the horrific incidents set her out as a person looking for a chance to rebuild and reconnect once again, the appealing nature of her outsider friend group gives this the kind of potential salvation where the sense of freedom that comes from indulging in the rituals that are performed by the group allows her a chance at finding her true self.

With everything here coming together to be a great setup for the acceptance she finds in the group of friends she makes at the camp, the darker rituals and more overt attempts at witchcraft spells that they perform offer up the kind of mystifying circumstances that don’t quite offer a clear explanation for what’s taking place. As we get more involved with her and the drug-fueled activities present, which manage to dwell on the idea of self-discovery more than deviance and maliciousness, there’s a great touch on community and togetherness that comes about with the women being able to help lift each other through the ritual into being far better people and closer friends as a result. That might not be in the best interests of those looking for that overt sense of magic and danger that would come from a person falling into a coven of witches and gradually learning their true powers, as it never evolves into the kind of feature where they learn dangerous magic and strike out at others. This more intimate and personal look is a choice that might not appeal to all, but as it’s the main issue here, it keeps this one immensely likable.

Overview: ****/5

While light on horror, but still immensely likable, this is a fantastic coming-of-age tale that manages to be somewhat light on the type of genre content some might want as the lone drawback featured with it. Those with an appreciation for this approach will have a lot to like here, while those turned off by the drawbacks here should heed caution.