US drama in which a gay teenager is pressured into attending conversion therapy.
Joel Edgerton once again proves himself a gifted filmmaker — but for all the craft, compelling performances and good intentions at work here, the drama itself falls somewhat short.
Well-crafted if a little under illuminating, Boy Erased is a simmering, elegantly helmed glimpse into a deeply disturbing practice that remains legal in most states.
It slaps, it stings and the lack of subtlety only makes the pain feel more urgent.
A little more anger would not have gone amiss in this well-acted but strangely remote slice of Oscar bait.
Well-meaning but slightly clunky.
The story pans out in ways that are more or less predictable, and the traditional twist in the tale about what homophobes are suppressing within themselves is supplied in the closing credits. At all events, it shows how homophobia creates credulous, fearful people vulnerable to the snake-oil con trick of “conversion”.
Director Joel Edgerton does not take us anywhere we haven’t been before.
Boy Erased: Why Joel Edgerton wants his film to become 'redundant'.
General release. Check local listings for show times.