Adapted for the screen by director Joel Edgerton, Boy Erased is a poignant and heartfelt family drama as Lucas Hedges, the son of a Baptist preacher, is forced to attend a church-sponsored gay conversion therapy program.
Aided by superb performances from Hedges and Nicole Kidman and Russell Crowe as his conflicted parents, Boy Erased is a confronting true story of a 19 year-old college student struggling to find himself whilst everything around him crumbles. Confronted by the strict rules at the camp, Jared finds support through others attending the program.
Respectful to his subject (including the parents), Edgerton treads possibly a little to cautiously in the telling of what is, essentially, abuse. But, like the recent The Miseducation of Cameron Post, Boy Erased remains a damning indictment of the program.
Rating: 70%
Director: Joel Edgerton (The Gift)
Writer: Joel Edgerton (The Gift, The Rover) – based on the memoire by Garrard Conley
Main cast: Lucas Hedges (Manchester by the Sea, Lady Bird), Nicole Kidman (Lion, Moulin Rouge), Russell Crowe (Gladiator, The Nice Guys)
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