ReelBob: ‘Boy Erased’ ★★★½

By Bob Bloom

A lot of misguided people populate “Boy Erased.”

Most, but not all, are neither villainous nor evil. They fundamentally believe that homosexuality is a sin and that it is their calling to “cure” those afflicted.

This is the core of conversion therapy — proving to a person that he or she is not a homosexual by choice but because of circumstance.

You are gay because of a defect; perhaps, something is broken within you, those sent to such conversion facilities are told.

If you believe in God and Jesus, confess your weaknesses and — most importantly — find someone to blame for your veering off the path of righteousness — you will be cured and — again — be a “normal” person.

That is the insidious manner in which conversion therapy is inflicted on mostly young people who are sent to such places.

Science is nonexistent in conversion therapy; it is based on will power, self-examination, discipline and constant haranguing by staff members who use Bibles as weapons.

One such young man is Jared Eamons (Lucas Hedges), the son of a Baptist pastor from a small Arkansas community, who is pressured by his father, Marshall (Russell Crowe), to admit himself to such a program or be shunned by his family.

His mother, Nancy (Nicole Kidman), silently acquiesces, staying at a nearby hotel, while Jared spends the day being deprogrammed by Victor Sykes (Joel Edgerton), the head of Love in Action, a religious-based installation, and his staff.

Edgerton, who also directed the movie and adapted the screenplay based on the memoir by Garrard Conley, continually keeps Jared at the center of the movie.

And he has found a perfect partner in Hedges. The young actor, who made an impression in “Manchester by the Sea,” gives a magnificent performance of a 19-year-old in conflict within himself and unsure whether or not he is taking the right steps.

Jared agrees to the therapy not so much because he doubts his sexuality, but because of his father’s overbearing coercion and the fear of losing his family.

Hedges’ portrayal is so intimate that he makes you feel his pain. You can read his every thought through his eyes — his fear of disappointing his parents, the suffering he realizes he has inflicted on them, his growing disillusionment and anger about the conversion process, and his empathy and compassion for his fellow patients.

You ache along with Hedges, as Jared goes deeper and deeper into this bogus realignment of his being.

“Boy Erased” is a horror film. Instead of people being murdered or mutilated, the soul and psyche are assaulted. Guilt and words are the armaments used to mentally maim those being treated.

What is most frightening, as depicted by Edgerton, is that those in charge sincerely believe that their motivations are God’s calling and that they are doing His work.

“Boy Erased” features other strong performances, especially that of Kidman, who, for most of the movie, is a quiet presence. When she finally speaks out, her ferocity is like a mother lion protecting her cub.

Edgerton’s Sykes could easily have been a single-dimensional antagonist. Again, as director, he provides layers for his character that allows you to understand — if not accept — his ideal concept of manhood and decency.

Crowe remains in the shadow of the others. His performance is basically a one-note minister who views everything through his biblical lens.

“Boy Erased” falters during two sequences: a brutal trauma that befalls Jared when he first goes to college, and the overemphasis of the male patients at the facility.

The one female patient seems to be an afterthought who is woefully underdeveloped.

Those, however, are miniscule oversights when taken in context to the movie as a whole.

No scientific evidence exists for the practice of conversion therapy. It remains legal is 36 states, which means that thousands of gay men and women are at risk.

Perhaps, one of the benefits of “Boy Erased” will be to help outlaw  this barbaric technique and educate people to love others for who they are, not as you wish they would be.

I am a member of the Indiana Film Journalists Association. My reviews appear at ReelBob (reelbob.com) and Rottentomatoes (www.rottentomatoes.com). I also review Blu-rays and DVDs. I can be reached by email at bobbloomjc@gmail.com or on Twitter @ReelBobBloom. Links to my reviews can be found on Facebook, Twitter, Google+ and LinkedIn.

BOY ERASED
3½ stars out of 4
(R), sexual assault, language, drug use