July is that time of the year—the month when all the trailers for really good, possible Oscar-contender movies start coming out. And now, we've been gifted with Boy Erased, the upcoming November release based on the novel of the same name and it's going to be a real emotional journey. Check out the trailer below.
After admitting that he's attracted to men, Garrard (Lucas Hedges) is outed to his Baptist parents (Russell Crowe and Nicole Kidman) and subsequently sent to a conversion camp. The film also features singer-songwriter Troye Sivan in his first on-screen appearance and writer director Joel Edgerton, who also plays the therapist at the camp. Besides Nicole Kidman's wig, which should honestly go ahead and enter itself in the Best Supporting Actress category, the film looks incredibly powerful, with the trailer featuring a new song from Sivan and Jónsi.
The story comes at an important time in America. Though it's denounced by practically every respected health organization in the U.S., conversion therapy is only outlawed in 11 states. Vice President Mike Pence has come under fire in the past for allegedly supporting the practice, though he later said that this was "patently false." Either way, the practice is a focal point of the film and highlights the painful journey that is conversion therapy from the firsthand account of the author.
Based on the memoir by Garrard Conley, the story is about the author's own experience in Arkansas. He was outed at the same time his father was about to become ordained as a Baptist minister. Conley was soon enrolled in a Love in Action conversion program, where he endured alleged abuse in pursuit of "curing" his homosexuality.
The movie is due out in November.
Justin Kirkland is a Brooklyn-based writer who covers culture, food, and the South. Along with Esquire, his work has appeared in NYLON, Vulture, and USA Today.
