The Miseducation of Cameron Post (film)

The Miseducation of Cameron Post is a 2018 British-American drama film directed by Desiree Akhavan and written by Akhavan and Cecilia Frugiuele, based on the 2012 novel by Emily M. Danforth. It stars Chloë Grace Moretz, John Gallagher Jr., Sasha Lane, Forrest Goodluck, Marin Ireland, Owen Campbell, Kerry Butler, Quinn Shephard, Emily Skeggs, Melanie Ehrlich, and Jennifer Ehle. Moretz plays a teenager sent to a gay conversion therapy centre.

The film had its world premiere at the Sundance Film Festival on January 22, 2018. It was released in the United States on August 3, 2018 by FilmRise, and United Kingdom on September 7, 2018, by Vertigo Releasing. It received positive reviews and has grossed $1.4 million worldwide.

Plot
In 1993, teenager Cameron Post is secretly involved in a romantic relationship with her friend, Coley Taylor. On homecoming night, Cameron’s boyfriend walks in on them having sex in Coley’s car, ultimately outing them both. Cameron's aunt Ruth, a devout Christian, sends Cameron to God's Promise, a gay conversion therapy centre for teenagers. It is run by the strict Dr. Lydia Marsh and her brother, Reverend Rick, who claims that his sister’s methods cured him of his own homosexuality after two members of his church "rescued" him from a gay bar. Cameron's roommate, Erin, represses her homosexuality and earnestly believes in the camp's program.

Cameron befriends two of her fellow "disciples," Jane Fonda, who was raised in a hippie commune, and Adam Red Eagle, a Lakota two-spirit whose father has converted to Christianity. The three teenagers bond over their mutual rebelliousness and skepticism of the camp's purpose.

During a group session, Cameron admits that she thinks Coley is "perfect" and is told by Dr. Marsh that her homosexuality stems from a misplaced urge to be like Coley. She covertly phones Coley and apologizes for how things turned out. Coley says she sent Cameron a letter, but the call is interrupted. After disrupting a kitchen chore session, Cameron has her mail privileges unexpectedly granted by Dr. Marsh. She reads Coley's letter, only to find that Coley blames her for "seducing" her into sin. Jane reads the letter with Cameron and then destroys it, calling Coley weak-willed and treacherous. Crying, Cameron calls her aunt and asks to be brought home but is refused.

Cameron tries to adapt better to life at God's Promise, exercising with Erin to Christian work-out tapes. One night, while Cameron is having a sexual dream, Erin wakes her up and they have sex, which Erin is immediately ashamed of and begs Cameron not to tell anyone about.

Another disciple, Mark, who has been expecting to return home shortly, is informed by letter that he must remain at the camp because his father still considers him effeminate. In a group session, Mark breaks down and begins behaving erratically until he is forcibly restrained by Dr. Marsh. That night, Cameron finds large quantities of blood in one of the bathrooms.

The next morning, Dr. Marsh and Reverend Rick call a meeting, announcing that Mark was badly injured during the night and is stable in hospital, but do not explain what happened. Several "disciples" disrupt the meeting, and a series of one-to-one meetings is held instead. During their one-to-one, Rick explains to Cameron that Mark mutilated his own genitals and nearly died before Adam found him. Cameron asks why the staff wasn’t monitoring Mark more closely and asks Rick if he and Dr. Marsh have any idea what they are doing. Rick cannot answer her questions and bursts into tears.

A government inquiry is launched into Mark's self-mutilation, but the investigator is unwilling to accept Cameron's argument that God's Promise is inherently emotionally abusive. Disillusioned, Cameron, Jane and Adam decide to run away from the camp under the pretense of an early morning hike. They hike to a nearby road and hitchhike away from the camp as the film ends.

Cast

 * Chloë Grace Moretz as Cameron Post
 * John Gallagher Jr. as Reverend Rick
 * Sasha Lane as Jane Fonda
 * Forrest Goodluck as Adam Red Eagle
 * Marin Ireland as Bethany
 * Owen Campbell as Mark
 * Kerry Butler as Ruth Post
 * Quinn Shephard as Coley Taylor
 * Emily Skeggs as Erin
 * Melanie Ehrlich as Helen Showalter
 * Isaac Jin Solstein as Steve Cromps
 * Dalton Harrod as Jamie
 * Jennifer Ehle as Dr. Lydia March
 * Christopher Dylan White as Dane Bunsky
 * Steven Hauck as Pastor Crawford
 * McCabe Slye as Brett
 * Dale Soules as Grandma

Production
In November 2016, it was announced Chloë Grace Moretz, Sasha Lane, John Gallagher Jr., Forrest Goodluck and Jennifer Ehle had all been cast in the film, with Desiree Akhavan directing the film, from a screenplay co-written with Cecilia Frugiuele.

Michael B. Clark, Alex Turtletaub, Jonathan Montepare and Frugiuele served as producers, with Akhavan and Olivier Kaempfer as executive producers, under their Beachside and Parkville Pictures banners.

Filming
Principal photography began in November 2016 in New York State.

Release
The film had its world premiere at the Sundance Film Festival on January 22, 2018, where it won the Grand Jury Prize for US Drama, the festival's highest honor. Shortly after, FilmRise and Vertigo Releasing acquired U.S. and U.K. distribution rights to the film, respectively. The film went onto screen at the Tribeca Film Festival on April 22, 2018.

It was originally scheduled to be released in the United States on August 10, 2018, at Kaleidoscope Film Festival in Arkansas, however it was pushed forward by a week to August 3, 2018. It was scheduled to be released in the United Kingdom on August 31, 2018, but was pushed back to September 7, 2018.

Critical response
The Miseducation of Cameron Post has received positive reviews from film critics. On review aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes it has a score of 87% based on 164 reviews, with an average rating of 7.46/10. The website's critical consensus reads, "The Miseducation of Cameron Post tells its timely coming-of-age story with wit, compassion, and an affecting overall generosity of spirit." On Metacritic, the film holds a rating of 69 out of 100, based on reviews from 36 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".