There is much to recommend this screen adaptation of Garrard Conley’s memoir detailing his experience after his parents put him in a church-affiliated gay conversion program.

Certainly, with such programs still legal for minors in a majority of US states, training our awareness on these damaging programs is a worthy effort.

First and foremost, Lucas Hedges is magnificent in the leading role, a character inspired by Conley called Jared Eamons.

Hedges, who studied drama at UNCSA, earned a Best Supporting Actor nomination for Manchester By The Sea (2016), but he’s been a stand-out in other films, too, including Moonrise Kingdom (2012), Lady Bird (2017), and Three Billboards Outside of Ebbing, Missouri (2017).

Other performances in Boy Erased are notable as well–beyond Nicole Kidman and Russell Crowe, who are cast as Jared’s Baptist parents. This includes director Joel Edgerton, who plays Victor Sykes, the leader of the Love in Action gay conversion therapy program.

The problem I have with the film is centered on the construction of the narrative.

On the face of it, cutting between Jared’s time in the conversion therapy program and events that lead to him being sent there by his parents makes a lot of sense as an organizing structure.

It is the implementation of this structure that is problematic. The individual pieces of the storyline are basically strong, but the juxtaposition and pacing of them is awkward at various points, which creates a film that is a bit plodding at times.

I believe Boy Erased is an important film anchored by a flawless performance, but it falls short of being a great film.