‘THE MISEDUCATION OF CAMERON POST’

NR 1:31

In “The Miseducation of Cameron Post,” the titular character is sent to a conversion therapy camp in 1993 called God’s Promise after being caught in a compromising position with another girl.

As she and her aunt arrive at God’s Promise, a girl surprises them by snapping a Polaroid as they get out of the car.

That photo, which is shown later in the movie in no great reveal, is a good metaphor for the whole movie. It’s a spot in time, everyone looks shocked and there are traces of light all around that seem as if they should converge into a clear image.

For most of the movie, Cameron (Chloe Grace Moretz) looks surprised, maybe even numb. Life is happening around her, and she can’t believe what that life has become. Sometimes that seems to slip into resignation. She forms friendships with her fellow campers, in particular, a girl named Jane Fonda (Sasha Lane) and Adam (Forrest Goodluck). Adam is Native American, and his story arc bears some none-too-subtle, but still effective, parallels to the treatment of Indian children forced to conform in schools run by whites.

Although it would have been easy to do, the movie doesn’t slip into a heavyhanded indictment of conversion therapy. The kids are not tortured, and God’s Promise doesn’t use aversion therapy. The adults are calm and seem kind. John Gallagher Jr. (“The Newsroom,” “10 Cloverfield Lane”) plays Reverend Rick as earnest in his efforts to teach kids to conquer same-sex attraction as he did. Jennifer Ehle plays a placid therapist who only rarely lets her tension show through.

Even so, the divide remains vast between the kids and the adults.

The teens’ reticence runs so contrary to today’s social media exhibitionism. You get no narration to offer insights into how Cam feels, and she rarely says what she is thinking. “Miseducation” is very different from the young adult book it’s based on. The novel is told from Cam’s perspective and begins when she is 12 and takes you through some important moments in her life, such as losing her parents.

The movie may just be that Polaroid of part of the novel, but it proves to be an effective one. The judges at Sundance agreed; the film won the Grand Jury Prize at the Sundance Film Festival earlier this year.

Starring: Chloe Grace Moretz, Sasha Lane, Forrest Goodluck, John Gallagher Jr. (Contains sensuality, drug use, obscenity, brief nudity and mature thematic material.)