Boy Erased (2018)

I originally gave this film 6 stars because the acting is superb. But the story is terribly understated and actually runs the risk of showing the world that conversion therapy "doesn't look that bad."

What's depicted is no worse than just another Sunday sermon in the south. Having lived through that, I know. As a physician and LGBTQ rights advocate, I can attest it gets much worse. SO much worse. But we don't see that here. If Garrard Conley endured only the film's version of events, then he's a lucky person indeed.

Bottom line: the title is significantly more dramatic than the film itself. A better title would have been Boy Inconvenienced for a Week Maybe (But It's Diffucult To Tell Really Because of the Pacing and Flashbacks). But it's watchable, and of course Nicole Kidman is going to be nominated for an Oscar.

Fmovies: First off, Joel continues to inspire me. Each movie he stars, writes, directs only gets better. I love this man's work & he is definitely underrated, which is what i've been saying for a while now.

Boy Erased (2018), based on a memoir of the same name, touches on important issues that are relevant to today's society. It puts forth an important message which definitely leaves with you after the movie. Without giving anything away, there is one scene in particular that was quite shocking, & I wasn't expecting it. It was good shock value, but it could have been fleshed out more directly, in a way. Nonetheless, the acting was top notch from all of the main cast. I expected nothing less from Nicole Kidman, Russell Crowe and Joel, but also Lucas Hedges, whom i've become a fan of, the more I see his movies. Lucas will definitely be going more places. His nomination for Manchester By The Sea (2016) was well deserved & a sign for many more things to come. I'm also looking forward to his other projects like Mid90s (2018) & Ben Is Back (2018).

In my opinion, the cinematography is done so like your average drama movies. The cinematographer is Eduard Grau, who also worked on other projects with Joel - The Gift (2015) & Gringo (2018). Moreover, also Buried (2010), A Single Man (2009) & Her (2013). A Single Man was beautifully done compared to this, as I felt that more could've been done in terms of depicting emotion with certain shots and scenes. But nonetheless, it doesn't take away too much, if anything, from the film.

This was, as a whole a good movie. However, I feel it could've benefitted from being longer (despite the almost 2 hour run time). I haven't read the book, but being at the Sydney Q&A with Joel made me wonder what he wished he had adapted from the book which he left out, or if there were any deleted scenes he wish he'd kept in the movie. There are other things I felt could've been improved upon in this movie, hence a 9/10, although, those are not too major. Overall, it is well worth the watch!

Thanks to anyone who took the time to read this :-)

PS. Unrelated, but ALMOST got a pic with Joel, hahaha! *internal crying* (jokes!)

• 9/10.

It is scary what we do to ourselves and our families. This is a dramatization of a real life horror. Well written, well acted and well directed.

Boy Erased fmovies. Boy Erased could've easily been a seriously impactful & powerful film - considering the subject matter & its focus on the horrors of conversion therapy in the US - but it sadly lacks the emotional punch its trailers seemed to suggest it possesses; if anything, they were far more moving than the actual movie itself... It's littered with astonishingly bad, clichéd, cheesy lines of dialogue; ill conceived, constructed & directed scenes & a story which seems to wander aimlessly for nearly 2 hours - I've no idea if the blame lies with amateur writing or the director who failed to realise the potential in the concept / story. The performances are also frustratingly underwhelming & Troye Sivan's appearance acts as nothing more than a glorified cameo; he's usually seen looking bored in the middle of a panning shot depicting people's reactions, reflecting how I felt while watching throughout - obviously only there to promote his new music. Its only minor success I feel the compulsion to acknowledge is in capturing the absurdity & ridiculousness of people's religious practices & beliefs - & though the acting didn't really sell these sequences or make me believe they were real enough to emotionally invest myself in the events as they unfolded, it's worth commendation for the sheer bravery of an attempt.

Never have I been so uncomfortable so long a period of time. Normally movies have a scene that shifts into the distressing/uncomfortable and you're like "wow, what a great scene."

That's the whole movie. Except for about 3 light moments scattered throughout the subject matter of conversion therapy and the environment our protagonist Jared is literally TRAPPED in is awful. The homophobia and control that the Love In Action conversion program enforces over the poor souls inducted into this brainwashing camp becomes increasingly extreme. The way it causes distress and breaks people is shown differently through the various side characters and none of it is good. This is a tragic story of the real abuse of LGBT people happening in the US (and gay conversion therapy isn't explicitly banned everywhere in Aus either).

I was on the edge of my seat, deeply breathing, sighing, putting my hands to my face in awe and distress, the whole way through. Just when I thought this movie couldn't get more uncomfortable it finds a new height.

It achieves all this through plot and intimate performances. Everything else is so stripped back and naturalistic. There's barely any music, or at least not very noticeable background music (with the exception of the song Revelation by Troye Sivan/Jonsi, which will likely vie for a nomination for best original song). It looks like they almost didn't have a lighting crew for more of the film, instead relying on house lighting for a dark, moody, or contrasting aesthetic. The whole thing feels not like a stylistic piece of cinema, but a realistic look at a person's life. Which is the point given it is inspired by the real experiences of someone who suffered through the abuse of conversion therapy. This film is so well put together.

I never want to watch it again. Which is weird for a film I love so much. But this movie is harrowing. It haunts me. I don't get very emotional over film but this subject and execution was just so deeply uncomfortable for such a long period of time that I don't feel the need to ever subject myself to that again. Which is a great recommendation if you want something to make you feel sad/distressed for nearly 2 hours straight.

BOY ERASED is a true memoir written by Gerrad Conley about his experiences with conversion therapy - that church oriented isolation of gay men and women intent on restoring them back from their sinful ways and Satan's influence. As adapted for the screen by Joel Edgerton (who also directs an plays a very prominent role of the man who is in charge of the conversion school), the film is intense and revelatory about a near cult-like 'business' of correcting the 'disease of homosexuality.'

As the synopsis states, This film tells the courageous story of Jared Eamons (Lucas Hedges), the son of a Baptist pastor Marshall Eamons (Russell Crowe) in a small American town, who must overcome the fallout of being outed to his parents - his mother Nancy Eamons (Nicole Kidman) is supportive of her husband's response. His parents struggle with reconciling their love for their son with their beliefs. Fearing a loss of family, friends, and community, Jared is pressured into attending a conversion therapy program. While there, Jared comes into conflict with its leader Victor Sykes (Joel Edgerton) and begins his journey to finding his own voice and accepting his true self.

The sessions in the therapy program dominate the film, with flashbacks of Jared in college and his rare gay acting out episodes with Henry (Joe Alwyn) and Xavier (Theodore Pellerin), misconstrued by invasive research by Sykes and his entourage. The fellow gay people are very well portrayed by Troye Sivan, Britton Sear, Emily Hinkler among others and one of the more realistic - about LGBTQ issues - characters, a Dr. Muldoon, is beautifully portrayed by Cherry Jones.

Lucas Hedges, Nicole Kidman, Russell Crowe and Joel Edgerton are all outstanding. The jolts of the film are many - including the facts about the characters as they are living now - and it is not an easy film to experience the truths about conversion therapy. But this is not only a fine film but also an important one for the public to learn about a process that still exists in some states.