Boy Erased

By: Arlene Allen

Boy Erased is based on the true story of Garrard Conley and adapted for the screen by director/actor Joel Edgerton. It’s the second film of the year about gay conversion therapy; the first being The Miseducation of Cameron Post. Both films raise awareness of something that occurs almost secretly in the US every day.

In this film Jared (Lucas Hedges) is outed to his parents by a young man who raped him and other boys. Jared is forced to confront his own sexuality to his father, a Baptist minister (Russell Crowe).  Preacher Eamons won’t allow a son of his like that in his house and after consulting with church elders, decides to send Jared to a gay conversion camp.

Accompanied by his mother (Nicole Kidman), Jared endures daily humiliation to confess his gayness as a sin. He watches as others in the camp are brutally abused. In one cringe-worthy scene, a young man’s family – including his little sister – beats him repeatedly with Bibles. When Jared can’t take it anymore, he leaves and finds surprising support in his mother.

This is a film that should enrage movie goers as gay conversion is portrayed as a nightmare.  However, the tone of the movie is so flat that it’s hard to work up any emotion. It’s a dull treatment of what should be shocking and outrageous, but it’s almost as if director Edgerton tries to play it safe. He does show both sides of the decision to send Jared off to the camp; his parents are not portrayed as monsters who seek to hurt their child. Preacher Eamons truly believes what he speaks and to him being gay is a sin.  Yet, he still loves his son and Jared loves him in return. His mother is also religious, but finds she loves her son more than some Bible passage.

Crowe is fabulous as the conflicted father. You can see the conflict he battles on his face and in his body posture. It’s an exceptional role for Crowe, who usually plays action heroes. Kidman is nearly unrecognizable as the good little housewife, who follows the lead of the head of the household. She too battles religion versus the love of her son and, when push comes to shove, unleashes a side of herself that surprises even Jared. There’s absolutely nothing wrong with the performances in the film. Joel Edgerton, in addition to directing and writing the script, plays Victor Sykes who runs the camp and shows no mercy for the young people he considers sinners. It’s a great, fire fueled role of a man who sees no shades of gray anywhere.

It’s the tone – or lack thereof – that spoils this movie. It’s almost as if Edgerton didn’t want to anger anyone on either side of this issue and it just doesn’t work. There doesn’t feel like there’s any rising action or a satisfactory climax. The denouement is rushed and feels forced as in “look, everyone is happy now!” This is a subject matter that requires outrage, whether you’re on one side of the issue of another. Edgerton’s film is sadly bland when it should be an emotional roller coaster.

I’m certain Crowe, Kidman, Edgerton and maybe Hodges will get Oscar nods and the film will get a lot of press. This reviewer was sadly not impressed and left the theater thinking there should have been something more. I felt I should have walked out enraged, but what I actually thought was “meh.”  I think The Miseducation of Cameron Post was a better, harsher film; however, lacking in major star power (outside of Chloe Grace Moretz) it got very little attention.

Still, for the average moviegoer, the film is not a waste of time or money. There are just better things to see.