“The Plague” filmmaker Charlie Polinger simply wanted to make a film that actually reflected his adolescent experiences.

“I see a lot of movies about 12 year old boys that are often either a little more ‘Goonies’-style biking around at night [that are about] this kind of carefree feeling or a little more bro-y hangout kind of movies. My sense of being 12 was it was more like [a] social anxiety hellscape,” Polinger told Executive Awards Editor Steve Pond at TheWrap’s Cannes Conversations in partnership with Brand Innovators.

“You see that [represented] more commonly, I think, in movies about women or about young girls, [movies] like ‘Carrie’ and ‘Raw’ and ‘Eighth Grade.’ You don’t see it as often in films about boys because there’s a certain vulnerability to [being] the object of terror or to [feel] insecurity in your body. There’s sort of a fear of that vulnerability being shown [when it is] centered around masculinity,” Polinger observed. “I thought it could be exciting to kind of take a genre that I’ve seen more with women and apply it to a story about boyhood.”

The resulting film, “The Plague,” marks Polinger’s feature directorial debut. It follows Ben (Everett Blunck), a young boy at a water polo summer camp for boys headed by an adult male instructor (Joel Edgerton). Ben quickly finds himself torn between his fear of being ostracized and his conscience when the camp’s other boys begin to bully Eli (Kenny Rasmussen), a fellow campmate whose skin condition prompts his bullies to declare that he has “the plague” and run screaming loudly in the other direction whenever he comes near.

“I’m actually a very bad swimmer,” Polinger revealed with a laugh when asked how he conceived the film’s story. “It came from experiences I had going to some all-boys summer camps, and my experiences at those and my experiences being that age in school and in general — and wanting to tell a story that felt like it really immersed the audience in the subjective experience of being a 12-year-old boy and all of the sort of chaos and anxiety that comes with that.”

Polinger wrote the film while he was staying at his parents’ house during the COVID-19 pandemic, but it was not until Edgerton agreed to star in it years later that Polinger was finally able to put “The Plague” together. “I think at first [Joel] was actually inquiring about directing it, and I was like, ‘I really have to do this one,’” Polinger recalled. “He was [then] generous enough to offer to act in it and help produce it, just to help get it made. That was really the thing that took us over the edge and [helped us find] the financing.”

While Polinger notes that “The Plague” is not a “traditional horror film,” the thing that always excited him about the project was the chance it would give him to immerse viewers in its young protagonist’s perspective — where things that adult viewers might not think are a big deal feel like they have “like and death stakes.” “That’s where the genre stuff came from,” Polinger said, before revealing that he even looked at war films for reference.

“Every single glance and every whisper feels dangerous,” the director explained. “I really was just trying to think about how Ben, the protagonist, would feel in any given moment, and [I tried to] find ways to cinematically evoke his interior state through the external world.”

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NEW HAVEN, Conn. – Southern Connecticut Women’s Outdoor Track & Field standout Hannah Caiola was named The Northeast 10 Conference Outdoor Track Athlete of the Year for the 2025 season, as announced by the conference on May 20th. 

Caiola completes the season sweep of the award after also being named the NE10 Indoor Track Athlete of the Year. She has been absolutely dominant on the track this season. Coming off a decorated indoor season, she broke the SCSU Outdoor Record in the 400m Dash with a time of 52.36. That is currently the #2 time in all of Division II, and ranks in the top-40 across all divisions. She brought home three golds at the 2025 Northeast-10 Conference Championships, winning the 200m, 400m, and 4×100, and was named the meet’s Most Outstanding Track Performer. Most recently, she won the New England Championships in the 200m Dash with a personal-best time of 23.81, which ranks 35th in all of Division II. It is also the second-fastest 200m time in program history. She was also an All-East Region performer in four events (200m, 400m, 4×100, 4×400). 

Caiola will compete in her third-straight NCAA Division II Outdoor Track & Field National Championships in Pueblo, Colorado from May 22nd-24th. 

 

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. – The Harvard men’s volleyball team recorded historic performances, faced some of the top teams in the nation, and again reached the EIVA Tournament as it had a strong showing in 2025. 

The Crimson opened its season 5,000 miles from home and set high expectations for its season as it pushed the No. 4 nationally ranked University of Hawaii to five sets in its second match up. 

After the trip, Harvard returned home for several straight weeks and added five wins to its record.  Of those wins were a historic victory over No. 17 Penn State and two sweeps of Sacred Heart to start EIVA 3-1 for the second straight season. 

The Crimson eventually clinched the No. 6 seed in the EIVA Tournament to earn a spot in the postseason for the fourth straight year.  Harvard’s season then came to an end as it battled against Penn State in the opening round. 

Harvard finished the year with an overall record of 9-15 and had four players earn All-EIVA honors.  James Bardin and Logan Shepherd represented the Crimson on the second team while Zach Berty and Owen Woolbert received honorable mention honors. 

At the conclusion of the 2025 season the Crimson says goodbye to seven seniors including Andrew Lobo, James Bardin, Callum Diak, Xuanthe Nguyen, Cooper Ribman, Logan Shepherd, and Owen Fanning.  The seven made impacts both on and off the court that have impact Harvard immensely over the past four season and will continue to show in the coming years. 

 

BOCA RATON, Fla. – Florida Atlantic football announced on Monday morning that the Owls will travel to Gainesville on Saturday, Sept. 5, 2026, to face the University of Florida.
 
The meeting will be the fifth time that the two teams have squared off, each being played in “The Swamp”. The first two were played under the direction of Florida Atlantic’s inaugural Head Coach Howard Schnellenberger. In 2007 the Owls’ first championship season, FAU fell 59-20 to the then-defending National Championship team. Schnellenberger also led the Owls into Gainesville in 2011, the legendary coach’s final season to roam the sideline. A 2015 Charlie Partridge-led team would force the Gators into overtime, ultimately falling 20-14. Their most recent meeting was in 2021 when a Willie Taggart-led team fell to UF by a score of 35-14.

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2026 NON-CONFERENCE

Sept. 5 at Florida in Gainesville, Fla.

Sept. 19 vs FIU in Boca Raton, Fla.

Sept. 26 at ULM in Monroe, La.

 

2027 NON-CONFERENCE

Sept. 18 at FIU in Miami, Fla.

Sept. 25 vs. ULM in Boca Raton, Fla.

Oct. 2 at Missouri in Columbia Mo.

 

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VALLEY CITY, N.D. – Valley City State University has two track and field athletes headed Marion, Ind. to compete at the 2025 NAIA Outdoor Track & Field Championship from May 21-23.
 
VCSU’s senior Kendra Odegard is set to compete in the javelin on Wednesday, May 21 at 5:30 p.m. CT.
 
Odegard nationally qualified with the ‘B’ standard in the Javelin at the Marauders Open on Saturday, March 22 with a 42.10-meter throw. She has now nationally qualified in the javelin in each of her four years at VCSU. Entering nationals Odegard ranks ninth in the nation in the javelin.
 
Viking sophomore Olivia Backus is set to compete in the high jump on Friday, May 23 at 1:00 p.m. CT.
 
Backus qualified at the NSAA conference championships after hitting the ‘B’ standard successfully clearing 1.66-meters. She ranks T22 in nation in the high jump. This marks Backus’s first trip to nationals.
 
There will be live results and a live stream provided by the NAIA to cover the National Championships.
 
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