Boy Erased

Boy Erased, directed by Joel Edgerton, is a dramatic film based on the real-life story of Garrard Conley and his experiences with America conversion therapy. It is a stark film that tells Garrard’s story in a very real, emotional way and it is truly one to watch.

In Boy Erased 18 year old Jared Eamons (based on Garrard), played by Lucas Hedges is shown struggling to come to terms with his sexuality in a deeply religious home where his father Marshall, played by Russell Crowe, is the preacher in their local church.

At the start of the film we see Jared during his first day at Love In Action, a conversion therapy programme. From the start, the programme seems very dubious: people that have enrolled are not allowed their phones whilst they are being ‘treated’ and they are discouraged from telling anyone outside of the programme about what goes on inside it. Victor Sykes, played by Joel Edgerton, is the chief therapist at Love In Action and he tells the group that their homosexuality is a sin and a choice and that God will never love them as they are. Victor then instructs each member of the group to make a genogram based on any issues that the member’s families may have had in the past such as drug addiction and gang affiliation as he says it would have ‘triggered’ their homosexuality.

We then see a flashback to Jared’s life before Love In Action when he was in college. He quickly befriended a fellow student called Henry, played by Joe Alwyn, and they become closer; hanging out, running and going to church together. One night Henry stayed over in Jared’s dorm and in a particularly hard to watch scene, he raped Jared. After doing so he apologises profusely and explains to Jared that he has raped another young man that he met at church. Jared is extremely shaken up and returns home. This is an extremely important moment in the film and although graphic was necessary to include. Men being raped has a lot of stigma around it and it is hardly ever represented in media so this representation while traumatic is key in bringing light to the fact that people of all genders can be raped. In the aftermath of this moment, we see Jared struggling profusely within himself. He seems incapable of anything often staring blankly into space and hardly communicating at all with his parents, showing the effect of rape in a very clever, respectful way.

One night Henry poses as a counsellor at Jared’s college and calls Jared’s parents and outs him, fearing that Jared would reveal what he did. Jared denies it at first and says that he loves God too much to be homosexual but he finally comes to term with it and tells his parents. They react very badly, his mother Nancy, played by Nicole Kidman, sobs quietly whilst his father invites pastors round to pray for his son. Jared’s father then asks him if he is willing to change and when Jared says he wants to change, his father arranges for him to be sent to conversion therapy.

The film then cuts back to the present and we see different members of the group talking about their ‘sins of homosexuality’. One of the boys Gary, played by Troye Sivan, tells Jared that he has to pretend he is changing if he ever wants to leave the programme and if not he will forced to be stay in accommodation made specifically for members that don’t respond to conversion therapy. We then see another of the members Cameron, played by Britton Sear, in an exercise where Victor encourages him to unleash his anger, confront his sins and express his willingness for change. However Cameron refuses and things quickly take an even darker turn.

He is forced to attend an imitation of his own funeral where he is shouted at by the leaders of Love In Action who tell him that if he continues with his homosexual tendencies, he will end up dead and in Hell. Victor then encourages Cameron’s family and friends to strike him with a bible to ‘beat the sin out of him’. Cameron then returns to the group and tells Victor that he now has God in his heart as he is terrified of being abused for his sexuality again.

When it is Jared’s tun to confess he talks about when he stayed over with a boy, but they did nothing more than hold hands. Victor calls him a liar and tries to force him to talk about Henry but he refuses and begins to get angry telling Victor he hates him and running out of the room. He takes his phone and calls his mother begging her to pick him up. She arrives and sees Jared held back and locked into a room by Victor and some of the other leaders. She rescues him and drives him to the motel they have been staying at. After a conversation with his father, she tells Jared that he wants him to return to conversion therapy. However she tells him that she will protect him and that he will never have to go back there again. Once home, the police knock on Jared’s door and it is revealed that Cameron, much like many young LGBT people forced into conversion therapy, has committed suicide whilst still being a member of Love In Action.

Four years on we see Cameron happy in New York and finally comfortable within himself and with his sexuality surrounded by friends and in a happy relationship. He returns home and the film ends with Jared and his father beginning to fix their relationship as his father says he is willing to try and change his homophobic ways as he doesn’t want to lose his son.

This film is one of the best representations of conversion therapy an internalised homophobia that I have ever seen. It presents the obvious problem with the idea of changing a person’s sexuality in such a clear, excellent way and does not shy away from portraying the real problems that Garrard, who the film is based on, had to deal with. Whilst there are laws in place against conversion therapy, it has not been officially been banned in many states yet and as a result more than 650,000 American adults have been forced to go to conversion therapy which is a truly shocking statistic. This film is incredibly important as it brings more awareness to the inhuman treatment of people that are forced to go to conversion therapy. This type of therapy is incredibly harmful and causes many suicides each year and it is something that needs to be banned as soon as possible.

The only negative thing I would say about this film is that we never get to see Jared’s journey towards accepting his homosexuality. I think this would have been a beautiful part of the film and an addition of this kind would have made the film even more amazing. That being said, this film is still sensational and deeply provocative, and the way that it not only highlights many issues with homophobia and conversion therapy, but also shows how happy people can become when they come to terms with their sexuality makes it definitely worth the watch.