Fantastic Fest 25: “CAMP” is Low-Fi Witchiness
Writer and director Avalon Fast has quickly become a thrilling name in lo-fi, genre filmmaking. Her first feature, Honeycomb, played the Slamdance and Fantastia festivals, and she has since made waves with her acting roles in The Serpent’s Skin and Castration Movie. Fast has now boldly arrived at the 2025 Fantastic Fest with her latest movie, CAMP, another strange feather in her cap. The film is a hazy piece of Fast’s self-described genre of “girl horror.” What Fast means by this is a slow burn of a work of horror that amounts to a catharsis or reclaiming of power. By that definition, CAMP makes for quite the addition to the girl horror fandom.
Emily (Zola Grimmer) has experienced two massive tragedies in her young, teenage life. She saw her best friend die in front of her and she was responsible for the death of a child. As one can imagine, Emily is struggling with her mental health. Her father suggests she go away for a while to remove herself from her regular life as a sort of reset. He finds a summer camp in need of counselors and Emily jumps at the job. Upon arrival, Emily discovers this is a Christian camp, but she’s not religious. Upon further inspection, she learns that some of her fellow counselors are just like her, meaning they aren’t religious, but Emily begins to think they might be witches.
courtesy of CAMP
Throughout history, women have been declared witches for a multitude of reasons. The label of “witch” is a means of control. Of deeming women dangerous and thereby having the power to silence them. While there are negative connotations to this label, power and community also come from it. CAMP is about Emily finding female friendship and learning how to accept and move forward from the trauma of the past. Emily’s dad tells her that this is a camp for “troubled” girls and that maybe Emily will be able to help them because she knows what it’s like to feel shame, pain, and guilt for her actions. This camp could be a coven. A place where women who aren’t understood by the general public are sent away to disappear because they don’t fit the generally accepted image of womanhood. Only they don’t disappear. They find each other, cultivate friendship, and experience magic.
CAMP is a coming-of-age movie that’s unexpected in its execution. Fast has become known for her gritty, DIY filmmaking sensibilities. There’s an intimacy at the heart of CAMP, no matter how airily rooted in magic and witchcraft it may be. CAMP, like the summer sleepaway activity the film is named after, is a means of connection, both among the characters in the film and between Fast and the viewer. Trauma is not healed in silence, but in moonlight dances, incantations, and laughter shared with friends.
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