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The Miseducation of Cameron Post
****
Dir: Desiree Akhaven
Starring: Chloe Grace Moretz, Jane Fonda, Forrest Goodluck
(USA, 15, 1hr 31mins)
Emily Danforth’s book, a gripping drama about gay conversion camps has been turned into an equally gripping and very human film, that treats all its characters with a degree of compassion. It’s 1993 and Cameron, played subtly by Chloe Grace Moretz, has been caught in a clinch with another girl at her homecoming dance by her male date. She is hastily dispatched to a private boarding school in the middle of nowhere where she is to ‘pray the gay away’ as part of the God’s Promise anti- gay conversion therapy scheme.
Here she meets Sasha Lane’s hippie, Jane Fonda, who has a prosthetic leg and has been sent there by her mother’s born-again new boyfriend and Forrest Goodluck’s Adam, whose father’s political ambitions are being thwarted by his son’s sexuality. The institution is run by Jennifer Ehle’s relentless Dr Marsh, determined to cleanse her youngsters from Satan’s power via prayer and psycho=babble, a cause embraced by Cameron’s room mate Erin, an excellent Emily Skeggs.
Dr Marsh is aided by Reverend Rick, played by John Gallagher Jr., who has renounced his sexuality but is obviously in pain and heading for tragedy. Still, he has his guitar at the ready to sing an uplifting song about his heterosexuality at the drop of a hat. The film follows Cameron as she struggles with her own sexuality, attempting to be outwardly compliant whilst rebelling with Adam and Jane.
There is plenty of humour to be had, but adaptor/director Akhaven never lets us off the hook. Characters take unexpected but deeply relatable journeys. The film surprises and proves deeply moving but not at the expense of creating one dimensional villains or becoming preachy. Chloe Grace Moretz gives the best performance of her career, with a nuanced turn that keeps Cameron enigmatic and engaging. The chemistry between her and the superb supporting cast is uniformly strong. Although the film is laced with sadness it never feels too worthy or morbid, peppered as it is with believable humour and very identifiable young people trying to belong.
words Keiron Self
Opens September 7