The Miseducation of Cameron Post

The Miseducation of Cameron Post, dir. Desirée Akhavan, 2018 USA, 91 minutes 💖
Friday, June 15, 9:30 p.m. Roxie
Thursday, June 21, 7:00 p.m. Piedmont Theatre (Oakland)
in theatres August 3, 2018

The Miseducation of Cameron Post

The year is 1993. Cameron Post (Chloë Grace Moretz, Kick-Ass and Kick-Ass 2, pictured right) goes to her high school’s homecoming dance with her “boyfriend,” but ends up spend­ing more quality time with the prom queen until the “boyfriend” finds them making out in the back of his car. Cameron’s guardians (she’s an orphan) send her to “God’s Promise,” a pray-away-the-gay boarding school, to cure her of her SSA (Same-Sex Attrac­tion). She wavers between earnest­ly trying to take the process seriously and running off into the woods with two of the other misfits, Jane Fonda (Sasha Lane, pictured center) and Adam (Forrest Goodluck, pictured left). Jane has a wooden leg that serves as a convenient hiding place for her stash of marijuana; Adam is a winkte, a two-spirit Native American (specifically Lakota) whose father was fine with his winkte son until the father decided to go into politics.

There is plenty of humor along the way, but it bears highlighting that when the story gets dark, it gets very dark. I won’t spoil the plot beyond that, but don’t go in expecting it to be a lighthearted comedy throughout. Moretz, Lane, and Goodluck join a fine cast, all of whom turn in stellar performances, the production values are excellent, and the story is sharp. Sadly, the issue of sending kids to gay conversion camps remains relevant in the era of Trump, much though it should have been relegated to the ash heap of the 20th century. (One random tidbit from the production: the “dancing on the table in the kitchen” scene was filmed the day after the 2016 election.) Even today, only 10 states have outlawed “conver­sion therapy” for minors. This excellent film, sadly more timely than we would ever wish, is definitely a MUST SEE.

• IMDb • based on the novel by Emily Danforth (movie tie-in edition coming July 3) •