(2025)
Directed by Daniel DelPurgatorio
Starring Kue Lawrence, Corbin Bernsen, Giorgia Whigham, Kai Cech, Paul Soter, Pierson Fode, Miya Cech, Max Malas

In this day and age, it’s not too often when a movie comes about that blows your expectations, especially when you think you know where the story is going. This film is one of them. The film starts off with a very young boy who obviously has issues making friends and is just basically an outcast for no apparent reason. His parents are about to shove him off to summer camp for the first time, which he is not too happy about.

Once he gets there, it is just as awkward and even terrifying as he thought it would be. Especially when he says he doesn’t want to go in the water, due to a previous close call in a swimming pool. At night, we hear the typical “scary story” from the counselors, which sets the tone for the rest of the film. Is the story true? Is there someone lurking in the shadows of the camp?

That’s it far as I’m going to go with the story because this is one you need to go into as blind as you can. There will be a few times where you think you’ve gotten it figured out. But just keep watching.

This is one of the most original stories that I’ve seen in quite some time, which immediately made it one of my favorites of the year. Major kudos to writer Andy Greskoviak, who recently had written Black Friday (2021), for giving us such an amazing story. Well shot, with an incredible cast of young actors that make it feel like a real summer camp.

This is director DelPurgatorio, first feature film. I first became aware of him over a decade ago with this short film Other (2012), which was just incredible. But now with Marshmallow, hopefully we will see more feature films.  

Seek this film out. Don’t read anything about it. Just watch it.