Jared, the son of a Baptist pastor in a small American town, is outed to his parents at age 19. Jared is faced with an ultimatum: attend a gay conversion therapy program – or be permanently exiled and shunned by his family, friends, and faith.
Ratings
Curator score: 5.4/10
IMDb: 6.9/10
Rotten Tomatoes: 80%
Metacritic: 69
TMDB: 7.0/10
Director
Joel Edgerton
Production
Anonymous Content, Blue-Tongue Films, Perfect World Pictures, Focus Features
Cast
Lucas Hedges, Nicole Kidman, Russell Crowe, Joel Edgerton, Troye Sivan, Madelyn Cline, Flea, Xavier Dolan, Britton Sear, Cherry Jones, David Joseph Craig, Joe Alwyn, Théodore Pellerin, Jesse LaTourette, Emily Hinkler, David Ditmore, Matt Burke, William Ngo, Lindsey Moser, Victor McCay
Where to watch
Netflix, Netflix Standard with Ads
Curator Review
Verdict
A sincere, well-acted drama about family rejection and conversion therapy, with strong performances and a polished, accessible style. It’s worth watching if you want a mainstream, emotionally direct account of queer trauma, though some viewers may find it emotionally distancing and dramatically conventional.
Best for
Viewers interested in LGBTQ+ issue dramas
Fans of performance-driven family conflict stories
People looking for an accessible, mainstream treatment of conversion therapy
Audiences who appreciate restrained, polished prestige drama
Skip if
You want a more radical, formally adventurous queer film
You’re sensitive to conversion-therapy and sexual-assault content
You prefer movies with a warmer emotional payoff or more nuanced secondary characters
You’re looking for a lighter or more hopeful coming-of-age story
Overview
Boy Erased is built as a prestige drama with a clear moral center: the harm done when faith, family, and institutions are used to police identity. Joel Edgerton keeps the storytelling clean and watchable, and the cast gives the material real weight, especially in the scenes where love and cruelty coexist in the same room.
Worth noting
What stands out most is the film’s seriousness. It doesn’t treat conversion therapy as a debate topic; it treats it as a system of shame and control. That gives the movie urgency, even when the script leans on familiar beats and some viewers may feel the emotional distance that comes with its controlled style.
Bottom line
The result is effective rather than transformative. It’s a solid, compassionate film with strong performances and a clear purpose, but not the most daring or deeply layered entry in this space. For many viewers, that balance will be enough; for others, it may feel too polished for such raw subject matter.
Top Letterboxd reviews
Jay · 2381 likes
if were giving lady bird characters spin offs, im curious to see the kyle scheible movie where he uncovers government conspiracies and disrespects women
Logan Van Winkle (3★) · 1991 likes
Lucas Hedges didn’t wash his hands after going to the bathroom.
jamie 💫 · 1647 likes
Boy Erased Budget:
set production: class="h-100",000,000troye sivan w/ bleached hair: $8,000,000xavier dolan in a suit: CAD$8,000,000 nicole kidman’s blonde wig: class="h-100".25
someone who is good at making movies please tell me what im doing wrong update: i went to a book talk by the author of boy erased!! cool stuff
anthony (3.5★) · 1636 likes
the uglier nicole kidman's wig gets, the more powerful she becomes
sydney (5★) · 1618 likes
they tried to convince me troye sivan’s name was gary
2014 · Drama · 2h 45m · R · Curator 8.4/10 (991.5K ratings) · Where to watch: Netflix, Hulu, AMC+, Philo, Sundance Now, MUBI
A reflective coming-of-age film that tracks identity formation with patience and realism.
Topics
LGBTQ drama, religious trauma, family conflict, prestige drama, coming-of-age, conversion therapy, emotional restraint, small-town America, identity crisis, social issue film