Boy Erased

In this sensitive drama, Lucas Hedges stars as a gay teenager in Arkansas who is outed to his Baptist preacher father Russell Crowe and mum Nicole Kidman. Homosexuality goes against their beliefs, so Hedges is enrolled in a strict, religion-based programme that pressures "patients" to change their sexual orientation. Based on the experiences of a real person (LGBTQ activist Garrard Conley), this heartbreaking story is brought to the screen by writer/director Joel Edgerton, who also co-stars as the conversion-therapy leader. Hedges is quietly affecting in the lead, portraying a confused young man wrestling with his emotions as he seeks self-acceptance.