Movie · 2009 · Drama, History, TV Movie · 1h 29m · PG · English
Curator score: 7.5/10 (19.7K ratings)
She loves everything about her son...except who he is.
Overview
Bobby Griffith was his mother's favorite son, the perfect all-American boy growing up under deeply religious influences in Walnut Creek, California. Bobby was also gay. Struggling with a conflict no one knew of, much less understood, Bobby finally came out to his family.
Ratings
Curator score: 7.5/10
IMDb: 8.0/10
Rotten Tomatoes: 73%
TMDB: 8.1/10
Director
Russell Mulcahy
Production
Once Upon a Time Films, Sladek Taaffe Productions, Permut Presentations
Cast
Sigourney Weaver, Henry Czerny, Ryan Kelley, Austin Nichols, Carly Schroeder, Scott Bailey, Rebecca Louise Miller, Shannon Eagen, Susan Ruttan, Dan Butler, Lee Garlington, Madge Levinson, Marshall McClean, Anna Badalamenti, Ele Bardha, Linda Boston, Marty Bufalini, Sonja Crosby, Bryan Fox, Colleen Gentry
Where to watch
Hulu, Lifetime Movie Club
Curator Review
Verdict
A moving, emotionally direct true-story drama about religious intolerance, family love, and the cost of rejection. It’s strongest as a tearjerker with a clear advocacy purpose, even if the TV-movie style is a little plain.
Best for
viewers seeking LGBTQ+ coming-out dramas
audiences interested in faith-versus-family conflict
fans of based-on-true-story emotional melodrama
people who don’t mind a heavy, cathartic watch
Skip if
you want subtle or visually stylish filmmaking
you’re avoiding sad or traumatic subject matter
you prefer understated, ambiguous dramas
you dislike TV-movie aesthetics
Overview
Prayers for Bobby is built to hurt, and it does. The film follows a young gay man trapped between his identity and the rigid religion of his family, then widens into a devastating portrait of a mother forced to confront the damage of her beliefs. It’s sincere, accessible, and emotionally blunt in a way that makes its message impossible to miss.
Worth noting
Sigourney Weaver gives the movie its backbone, turning what could have been a simple villain-to-ally arc into something more complicated and painful. The film’s craftsmanship is functional rather than elegant; it often looks like what it is, a made-for-TV drama. But the emotional clarity is strong enough that the rough edges mostly fade once the story takes hold.
Bottom line
What lingers is not just the tragedy, but the insistence that love should have arrived sooner. It’s a difficult watch, but an important one, especially for viewers drawn to stories about queer identity, religious pressure, and family reckoning.
Top Letterboxd reviews
david (4★) · 598 likes
i need to stop watching depressing gay movies i'm already depressed enough
vic (4.5★) · 356 likes
well fuck me i want to die
Fran (2★) · 223 likes
this movie has a powerful and beautiful message... but it also have an ugly cinematography
Trujaim (4★) · 192 likes
La iglesia y sus idioteces me sacan de quicio.
Mary Griffith: "Homosexuality is a sin. Homosexuals are doomed to spend eternity in hell. If they wanted to change, they could be healed of their evil ways. If they would turn away from temptation, they could be normal again if only they would try and try harder if it doesn't work. These are all the things I said to my son Bobby when I found out he was gay. When he… more
jeremy (4★) · 161 likes
movie so powerful and inspiring but minus 1 star because my throat hurts right now for too much crying i simply cannot with these depressing movies