As anyone who’s ever been the victim of adolescent bullying will tell you, kids can be ruthless and relentless. For decades, the male “bully” in film and television was a stereotype: the burly jock who’d toss the scrawny nerd into a locker, give them a wedgie, or inflict some other form of physical abuse. But as most of us who’ve been bullied know, real bullies often wield a different kind of power. They don’t need to harm you physically when they can turn everyone against you, destroying you mentally and emotionally instead. Their cruelty knows no bounds. And if your friends are bullying someone, it feels as though you have to join in. Otherwise, they’ll kick you out of the group and target you as well. It’s malicious, sickening, and Charlie Polinger’s film The Plague captures it all too well.