Quartile rating: 7/10 · 1 rating
Jared, the son of a Baptist pastor in a small American town, is outed to his parents at age 19. Jared is faced with an ultimatum: attend a gay conversion therapy program – or be permanently exiled and shunned by his family, friends, and faith.
Boy Erased benefits enormously from committed performances, particularly Lucas Hedges, Nicole Kidman, and Russell Crowe, who elevate what is otherwise a fairly familiar coming-of-age drama about identity and family conflict. The film's depiction of conversion therapy is harrowing and emotionally grounded in memoir truth, but narratively it follows a well-worn path without much structural surprise. Cinematography is competent and restrained, serving the story without distinguishing itself visually. Novelty is limited — the subject matter had already been explored (most notably in The Miseducation of Cameron Post released the same year), and the film follows a conventional dramatic arc. The ending offers modest catharsis and honesty but doesn't land with particular force or ambiguity.