Boy Erased trailer: Nicole Kidman, Lucas Hedges star in a moving real-life story about conversion therapy

The trailer for Joel Edgerton’s upcoming movie Boy Erased is out, and it is based on Garrard Conley’s Boy Erased: A Memoir. The trailer for Edgerton’s screen adaptation opens with Garrard, a seemingly normal teenager, living a normal teenage life. He hangs out with friends, roams around town, and lives with his parents; just like any normal kid. But, in the middle of all this, his mother and father, Marshall Conley and Nancy Conley, confront him about anything he’d like to tell them to which he replies, “I think about men. I don’t know why, and I’m so sorry.” His parents — who are proud, conservative Christians — make it clear that any behavior going against their beliefs has no place in their home. Following this, Garrard’s parents enroll him in a “refuge program” at the local church, run by conservative and homophobic Victor Sykes. [caption id=“attachment_4765981” align=“alignnone” width=“825”]  A still from Boy Erased/Image from Twitter.[/caption] At the church, Sykes is heard saying, “You cannot be born a homosexual. This is a lie. It’s a choice.” Rest of the trailer sees Garrard getting subjected to the program’s cruel routines, which involve masculinity training sessions and beatings for nonconformists. Witnessing her son’s distress, Nancy Conley appears to have a change of heart. “They say sometimes you’ve got to hurt a child in order to help them,” she says, “but a mother knows when something isn’t right.” Boy Erased stars Lucas Hedges as Garrard Conley, Nicole Kidman as Nancy Conley, Russell Crowe as Marshall Conley, Joel Edgerton as Victor Sykes, Madelyn Cline as Chloe, Cherry Jones as Dr. Muldoon, Red Hot Chili Peppers’ Flea as Brandon, Xavier Dolan as Jon, Troye Sivan as Gary, and Joe Alwyn as Henry. It has been written and directed by Joel Edgerton. Boy Erased is set to release on 2 November. You can watch the trailer here:

Lucas Hedges has starred in highly acclaimed movies like Moonrise Kingdom, Kill the Messenger, Lady Bird, and Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri. He received a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for playing a sardonic teenage orphan in Manchester by the Sea. The movie also stars pop-star Troye Sivan and legendary Red Hot Chili Peppers’ bassist Flea.