Boy Erased

If we talk about religion, there are of course many different kinds of beliefs. We have Christians, Muslims, Jehovah´s Witnesses, Hinduism, Buddhism and many other religions. They all believe in many different things, while they all believe in different scriptures. One of the subjects that will always be sensitive to talk about in religion, is homosexuality. Every religion have different views on homosexuality, and i suppose this will always be this way. What is my personal opinion about homosexuals ? I have no problem with them, since i know some people who are gay. Will they end up in hell, as certain religions say ? I personally think that the ones who will end up there are pedophiles, and murderers. And there is a possibility that people who listen to Dansband like Lasse Stefanz will end up there as well, unless they convert into the wonderful songs of Korn and Slipknot. When it comes to films that bring up the subject about homosexuality and religion, there are a couple of films worth to mention. Let´s start of with the TV drama movie Prayers For Bobby. Based on the book Prayers For Bobby by author Leroy F. Aarons, the movie tells the story of the young man Bobby Griffith ( really good played by actor Ryan Kelley ) who is homosexual. His Christian mother Mary Griffith ( brilliant played by legendary actress Sigourney Weaver ) is doing all she can to make her son normal. With Mary´s extreme behavior towards her son, it ends up with Bobby killing himself. This is a very strong TV drama movie, and Sigourney Weaver did one of her best performances in years in this film. I suggest you buy the DVD, and show your family how brutal life can be. The other film i need to mention, is the drama movie The Miseducation Of Cameron Post from director Desiree Akhavan. This film tells the story of how a group of young people are send away to a Christian gay conversion therapy center, to make the teenagers normal again. This is a very good film, with some really strong performances from actors such as actress Chloe Graze Moretz, Dale Soules, Sasha Lane and many others. I have to say that The Miseducation Of Cameron Post managed to give a very interesting view on how gay conversion therapy camp works like. Director Desiree Akhavan clearly worked hard to give this film a very emotional tone, and she also managed to capture the time period of the 90´s. I have heard about another drama movie called Boy Erased, a film that also bring up the subject of gay conversion therapy ( based on a true story ) I was supposed to see the film in cinema, but watched the film on Amazon prime video. With a cast including Nicole Kidman and Russel Crowe, is Boy Erased a powerful drama movie, or not as good as i was hoping for ?

Jared Eamons ( Lucas Hedges ) is the son of Marshal Eamons ( Russel Crowe ) a well respected Baptist preacher and also a successful car dealer and mother Nancy Eamons ( Nicole Kidman ). He tell his parents one day that he is gay, and this completely destroy his parents from their religious beliefs. Marshal make the decision to send his son to Love In Action gay conversion therapy assessment program. Jared strongly believe that there is nothing wrong with him, while Love In Action therapist Victor Sykes ( Joel Edgerton ) make it very clear, that Jared and many other young people who is in therapy need to confess their sins and become a heterosexual. Will Jared turn his life around or will he fight against the therapy treatment ? 

If you did see The Miseducation Of Cameron Post, i guarantee that you want to see Boy Erased. Both films do include Christian gay conversion therapy, and give you a closer look of how this works. The difference between these 2 films, is that Boy Erased give you a deeper view from a family perspective. How do you deal with the fact, finding out your son is gay, when you are a preacher and wife in a Baptist church that goes against your faith ? The acting in this film is really good, and i have to say that the cast does a really good job portraying their characters. Actress Nicole Kidman as mother Nancy Eamons gives a performance that will affect you, and Nicole really tries to portrait the mother struggling to accept her son´s sexuality. Russel Crowe as the Baptist church preacher Marshal Eamons, is clearly having a hard time after finding out he is gay, and he will do anything to save his son. Even if Russel does not get a lot of screen time, he still give a good performance. Lucas Edges who plays the homosexual son Jared, manage to give a powerful performance of a man who is trying to be himself, but is not allowed to be gay. When you see how he suffer in some scenes, at the gay conversion therapy sessions, you realize that this so called therapy is not helping young people but hurting them instead. One scene especially when one of the young men, are being beaten with bibles to clean him from his homosexual behavior really made me angry. There is no excuse to beat up anyone, especially not if you think you will change a person that does not need to be changed. We have to mention two more actors in here. Flea ( also known as the bass player in Red Hot Chili Peppers ) as the Christian gay conversion therapy worker Brandon is amazingly good. I have never seen him act this good in a movie before, and every scene he is in makes you want to see him more. Not because he is a good human, because he treats these young ones as shit, and his performance fits really good with the character. Joel Edgerton ( who you probably have seen in the excellent movie Warrior, released in 2011 and of course in a personal favourite movie of mine called Midnight Special ) plays the gay conversion therapist Victor Sykes. This is exactly the kind of monster that should not be allowed to have therapy sessions, because he should be locked up instead of destroying people´s lives. The plot feels both very interesting, and the story manage to keep you fascinated about both gay conversion therapy and how this destroys people´s lives. Director Joel Edgerton ( who also acts in this film ) have managed to tell a very strong drama, that makes you question why these gay conversion therapy sessions even exist. Boy Erased will touch you emotionally and make you angry.

Rating: DDDD