TORRANCE TRIBUNE February 1, 2018 Page 3
Entertainment
Film Review
The Miseducation of Cameron Post Wins
Top Honors at Sundance Film Festival
By Morgan Rojas
for www.cinemacy.com
There are so many good things to say
about The Miseducation of Cameron Post,
the second feature film from director Desiree
Chloë Grace Moretz, Forrest Goodluck, and Sasha Lane in The Miseducation of Cameron Post. Courtesy of the Sundance Institute.
Akhavan and the winner of the U.S. Dramatic
Grand Jury Prize, Sundance Film Festival’s
highest honor. Adapted from Emily Danforth’s
acclaimed teen novel, Miseducation is the
coming-of-age story of a young teen sent to a
religious camp to “pray the gay away.” Led by
Chloë Grace Moretz, the entire cast brings life
to these characters, mixing heart and humor for
moving performances. What’s more, one of the
most inspiring parts of this production, besides
Moretz’s female-empowering performance, is
the below-the-line hiring -- as Akhavan herself,
along with the film’s cinematographer, editor,
co-writer and music supervisors, compose an
all-female crew.
Cameron Post (Moretz) sits in a bible study
group, silently observing the environment around
her. Having grown up in a Christian household,
it has been said since day one that there is a
very clear right way and wrong way to live
in the eyes of the Lord, which does not bode
well for Cameron being that she likes girls.
When she is caught engaging in sexual activity
with her secret girlfriend on prom night,
Cameron’s life is instantly turned upside down
as she is immediately sent to God’s Promise,
a gay conversion therapy school run by Reverend
Rick (John Gallagher, Jr.) and Dr. Lydia
Marsh (Jennifer Ehle). This “school” claims to
cure “SSA,” or “Same Sex Attraction” through
Christian teaching.
Luckily, like Cameron, not all of the
students – or disciples, as the school calls
them – are on the same page with the school’s
mission. Cameron quickly finds kinship in
rebellious classmates Jane (Sasha Lane)
and Adam (Forrest Goodluck), who smoke
poorly-grown pot and eye-roll their way
through the school’s stream of hokey activities
-- like worksheets and collage art therapy
-- intended to trace back to events in the
students’ lives which “caused them to be
gay.” It’s evident that no one at God’s Promise
wants to be at God’s Promise, but Cameron
and her new friends rely on each other to get
through this process as relatively unscathed
as possible.
Chloë Grace Moretz is subtle yet astounding
in the title role. The authenticity she delivers
as a teen struggling with her sexual identity
proves she was absolutely the perfect casting
choice, and she doesn’t shy away from the
See Film Review, page 4