Unlike Joel Edgerton’s The Gift, a taut thriller that just keeps ratcheting up the stakes, the energy and momentum in Boy Erased is constantly being depleted by the movie’s flashbacks. There are a lot of heartfelt performances in this movie, but they cannot overcome the movie’s structure. Which is too bad, because there’s good stuff in examining what it’s like to want to be something you aren’t because you can’t be something you are.
Verdict: Skip
Cost: $4.00
Where watched: Academy Theater with S. North
Based on the book Boy Erased by Garrad Conley
