The Miseducation of Cameron Post (film)

The Miseducation of Cameron Post is a 2018 coming-of-age 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 $2 million globally.

Plot
In 1993, teenager Cameron Post is secretly involved in a romantic same-sex relationship with her girlfriend, Coley Taylor. On homecoming night, Cameron's boyfriend comes upon them having sex in Coley's car, and ultimately outs them both.

Cameron's aunt Ruth is raising the girl and is a devout Christian. She sends Cameron to God's Promise, a gay conversion therapy center for teenagers, who are called "disciples" there. 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; two members of his church had "rescued" him from a gay bar. Cameron's roommate Erin is repressing her homosexuality and earnestly believes in the camp's program.

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

During a group session, Cameron says that she thinks Coley is "perfect". Dr. Marsh says that the girl's homosexuality comes from a misplaced urge to be like Coley. Cameron covertly phones Coley during a visit to a restaurant 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, learning that Coley blames her for "seducing" her and that she outed Cameron. Jane reads the letter with Cameron and destroys it, calling Coley weak-willed and treacherous. Crying, Cameron calls her aunt Ruth and asks to be brought home. Ruth turns her down, saying she is doing this because she loves the girl.

Cameron tries to adapt better to the center routine, exercising with Erin to Christian work-out tapes. One night while Cameron is having a sexual dream, Erin wakes her up and both girls kiss. Erin puts her hand in Cameron's sheets and pants to make love to her. Cameron has an orgasm but Erin regrets it and asks Cameron not to tell anyone because she wants to change.

Mark, a disciple who had 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 recites a passage from 2 Corinthians 12. He begins to break down, shouting, "When I am weak, I am strong!" until he is forcibly restrained by Dr. Marsh. That night, Cameron sees large quantities of blood in one of the bathrooms.

The next morning, Dr. Marsh and Reverend Rick call a meeting, saying that Mark was badly injured during the night and is stable in a hospital. They do not explain what happened. After two of the "disciples" disrupt the group meeting, the adults hold a series of one-to-one meetings instead.

During their meeting, Rick tells 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; she asks Rick if he and Dr. Marsh have any idea what they are doing. Rick does not answer and bursts into tears. A government inquiry is launched into Mark's self-mutilation, but the investigator is unwilling to accept Cameron's assertion that God's Promise is inherently emotionally abusive.

Disillusioned, Cameron, Jane and Adam decide to run away from the camp under cover of an early morning hike. They walk to a nearby road and hitchhike away.

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 US and UK 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 the 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.

Reception
The Miseducation of Cameron Post has received positive reviews from film critics. On review aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes it has a score of based on  reviews, with an average rating of. 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".