Prior to this film, I had no knowledge of the existence of such practices called conversion therapy but this movie was the best introduction, perhaps a little startling.
The cast is a perfect congregation of some of the best Hollywood top shots. Nicole Kidman and Russell Crowe's pair-up is delightful to watch and the performance of Lucas Hedges as the gay teenage boy is just the right amount. He doesn't overdo it like so many other actors but still gives that impression.
The movie has quite a slow pace and barely shocks with its climax. We see the beginning of Jared's character arc with him succumbing to his parents' request to submit to a conversion "therapy" but the plot misses the perfect chance to show the peak of his character arc when he chooses to stay gay and has to iterate that to his parents and face the consequences, a sequence and a confrontation that could have been the most powerful scene of the film. With the film skipping over it through a flash forward, the audience feels robbed. Still, some of the writing, like the flashbacks to Jared's encounters with two of the boys he liked, Henry and Xavier are well done and I must say the rape scene is perhaps the scariest scene I've had to sit through which only means that they did a good job of crafting that scene igniting the sense of disgust in the audience.
Although a slow-paced movie with unfulfilled potential in writing, the film is a faithful depiction of "conversation therapy" subtly dehumanizing it and is a good introduction to all people like myself who this topic is unbeknownst to. I've always loved Joel Edgerton as an actor but seeing this, I think he has a long road ahead of him as a director as well!
The cast is a perfect congregation of some of the best Hollywood top shots. Nicole Kidman and Russell Crowe's pair-up is delightful to watch and the performance of Lucas Hedges as the gay teenage boy is just the right amount. He doesn't overdo it like so many other actors but still gives that impression.
The movie has quite a slow pace and barely shocks with its climax. We see the beginning of Jared's character arc with him succumbing to his parents' request to submit to a conversion "therapy" but the plot misses the perfect chance to show the peak of his character arc when he chooses to stay gay and has to iterate that to his parents and face the consequences, a sequence and a confrontation that could have been the most powerful scene of the film. With the film skipping over it through a flash forward, the audience feels robbed. Still, some of the writing, like the flashbacks to Jared's encounters with two of the boys he liked, Henry and Xavier are well done and I must say the rape scene is perhaps the scariest scene I've had to sit through which only means that they did a good job of crafting that scene igniting the sense of disgust in the audience.
Although a slow-paced movie with unfulfilled potential in writing, the film is a faithful depiction of "conversation therapy" subtly dehumanizing it and is a good introduction to all people like myself who this topic is unbeknownst to. I've always loved Joel Edgerton as an actor but seeing this, I think he has a long road ahead of him as a director as well!