Joel Edgerton adapted his second directorial effort from the memoirs of Garrard Conley. Conley is represented here by Jared Eamons, played by Lucas Hedges. Jared is the son of Baptist minister Marshall (Russell Crowe) and hairdresser Nancy. He's a star basketball player in high school and his girlfriend's a cheerleader. He appears normal to the world. But he feels something amiss.
After his best friend at college, Henry (Joe Alwyn), sexually assaults him, Jared comes out of the closet to his parents. They are less than thrilled with the news. They quickly sign up Jared for Love in Action, a Gay-Conversion program. The uptight director Victor Sykes (Edgerton) swears his flock to secrecy about the curriculum. At best, it's a minor assignment like tracing one's family tree "for the source of sin." At worst, it's a mock funeral where the "deceased" is beaten with bibles. Neither sounds fun.
Jared tries to survive the program. Otherwise, he'll have to live on campus for much longer. Nancy sees the curriculum and realizes she's made a mistake. It all comes to a head after Sykes goes too far.
Its strongest technical standouts include production designer Chad Keith and cinematographer Eduard Grau. The Love in Action campus is appropriately dour and oppressive. It's not a welcoming environment as Jared and the others learn. The aforementioned mock funeral feels more like an exorcism against a defenseless ghost instead of Pazuzu. Editor Jay Rabinowitz's best moment is the frantic scene where Jared quits the program.
The leads are pretty good. Hedges as Jared is believable as a conflicted, self-loathing youth who eventually stands for himself. His on-screen parents, Crowe and Kidman, are misguided people. They love their son and honestly believe they're doing what's best. Nancy learns to assert herself when she realizes that's not true. Marshall is stubborn but his and Jared's eventual reconciliation was good. Sykes is brutal but even he thinks he's being helpful. His lead councilor is a less-likable man named Brandon (Flea).
Jared's fellow students are a decent bunch. A few get more spotlight than others. These include Cameron (Briton Seer), the victim of the aforementioned mock funeral, the haphephobic Jon (Xavier Dolan), and Gary (Troye Sivan, who has two songs on the soundtrack). You'll feel for them even if you don't get to know them that much.
Boy Erased makes for an uneasy 114 minutes. The program's extreme beliefs (and a glaringly obvious typo in a booklet) provide a few uneasy laughs. Its actions are another story. It's a perfect analysis of that old saying where hell is paved with good intentions. It was satisfying to see Jared and Nancy asserting themselves. That's what makes the resolution a relief. It's uneasy but it was necessary.
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