Gay conversion drama Boy Erased had it’s Australian premiere in Sydney last night. The drama is directed by Joel Edgerton and stars Lucas Hedges, Nicole Kidman, Russell Crowe, Troye Sivan, Joe Alwyn and Xavier Dolan.
Boy Erased tells the story of Jared (Hedges), the son of a Baptist pastor in a small American town, who is outed to his parents (Kidman and Crowe) at age 19. Jared is faced with an ultimatum: attend a conversion therapy program – or be permanently exiled and shunned by his family, friends, and faith. Boy Erased is the true story of one young man’s struggle to find himself while being forced to question every aspect of his identity.
Adapted from Garrard Conley’s best selling memoir, this film comes as a new report exposes the continuing existence of conversion therapy practices in Australia. The film is rated MA+15, and will be in cinemas from 8th November.
OUTinPerth and Pride WA are hosting an exclusive Perth premiere at the new Palace Cinema in Raine Square. For you chance to be among the first people in Western Australia seeing the film head to our giveaways page.
Among the famous faces at the Sydney premiere was director Joel Edgerton, Magda Szubanski, actor Claudia Karvan and swimming champion Ian Thorpe.
Yesterday a new report showed that the practice of conversion therapy is still occuring in Australia and there have been calls for politicians to bring in laws outlawing the practice. In the USA several states have made the practice illegal.
Speaking to the Sydney Morning Herald director Joel Edgerton said he hoped that one day people would look back at the film and see it in the same way as the electroshock therapy scenes in One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest.
“You always hope your films will live forever,” he said before the Australian premiere in Sydney on Monday night. “But I kind of hope Boy Erased is a redundant movie.
“It would be great if it was redundant now or in a year, or in five years time that there’s no point even watching this movie. That it’s a museum piece.”
Check out the photos from the Sydney premiere.
OIP Staff
