Joel Edgerton, the versatile actor you likely know from movies like Midnight Special and Bright, quietly dropped one of 2015’s best thrillers with The Gift, which he both wrote and directed. Now, Edgerton the auteur has returned with Boy Erased, the story of a teen sent to a gay conversion camp by his religious parents.
Edgerton adapted the story from Garrard Conley’s memoir of the same name, and stars as the head of the gay conversion camp. The story, however, is built around Lucas Hedges’ Jared, a teenager whose budding attraction to men sends his parents (Russell Crowe and Nicole Kidman) into a struggle between family and their own deeply-held religious beliefs.
“I’m obsessed with cults and prisons, and I felt like I was going to get this glimpse into a world I’d heard about,” Edgerton said of his interest in the world at Focus Features’ CinemaCon earlier this year.
The trailer, which chronicles Jared’s confession to his parents, as well as the abusive behavior of those running the camp, is underscored by an aching new song, “Revelation”, from Troye Sivan and Sigur Ros’ Jónsi. Look closely and you’ll also see Red Hot Chili Peppers’ bassist Flea as one of the camp’s militaristic counselors.
See it below.
Boy Erased will arrive in select theaters on November 2nd.
