The Miseducation of Cameron Post

2018, 90 Minutes, DCP
USA

Presented by: Sara Shaw

Director: Desiree Akhavan

Cast: Chloë Grace Moretz, Jennifer Ehle, Marin Ireland

Distributor: FilmRise

Maryland was the first state to approve marriage equality by popular vote several years ago, so it seems incredible that “conversion therapy” was emotionally debated during the 2018 Maryland legislative session, but it was.

Adapted from a book of the same name by Emily Danforth, and published in 2012, this funny and warm‑hearted film tells the story of a girl who gets sent to the Christian camp God’s Promise, to pray away her sexual feelings, or at least to get them back in the closet. Cameron of course meets and bonds with many other “misfits,” like an amputee who uses her prosthesis to hide marijuana and insists her name is Jane Fonda. Even the camp leaders, Reverend Rick (John Gallagher Jr.) and his crazed sister, Dr. Lydia Marsh (Jennifer Ehle), are not stereotypical monsters.

Led by a wonderfully strong and tempered performance by Chloe Grace Moretz as Cameron, the whole cast, under the guidance of co-writer and director Desiree Akhavan (MdFF 2014’s Appropriate Behavior), finds something specific and convincing in each character. Spirited and funny, this film is a forceful reminder that the human spirit is hard to repress, though there will always be those who try out of a fear of sexual desires they don’t understand. (Jed Dietz)

 

Screening with:

TOOTH AND NAIL, Sara Shaw, 2017, USA, 22 MIN

A sister makes a bargain with her terminally ill brother. He agrees to give her his sperm for future use with a partner if she comes out to the family that night.

 

Ticketholder must be in line 15 minutes prior to show time. No refunds or exchanges.