Boy Erased trailer: Will Lucas Hedges see Oscar gold?

Lucas Hedges is fast becoming one of the industry’s most sought-after young actors after his exposure in films like Manchester by the Sea and Lady Bird. Now, with the help of Joel Edgerton, Nicole Kidman, and Russell Crowe, he may see Oscar gold in the new drama, Boy Erased.

Starting with a supporting role in the Wes Anderson comedy, Moonrise Kingdom, Lucas Hedges is quietly making a name for himself as a young and ambitious actor tackling meaty roles, such as the angsty nephew of Casey Affleck in Manchester by the Sea (which also netted him an Oscar nomination), the sharp, but depressed son of Frances McDormand in Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri and perhaps most famously as the awkward but kind-hearted first love interest of Saoirse Ronan in last year’s Lady Bird. We’ve seen him tackle supporting roles well, but now comes the time for Hedges to test his skills as a lead with the help of writer-director-actor, Joel Edgerton, in the newest biographical drama, Boy Erased.

Boy Erased, which also stars Edgerton himself, alongside Russell Crowe and Nicole Kidman, is something akin to a horror story, as it follows a teenage boy who finds out he is interested in people of the same biological gender as him. In other words, he is gay, but his father cannot bring himself to accept this fact. In order to “fix” him, he is sent to conversion therapy, where he experiences horrors unlike anything he can comprehend.

An uncomfortable true story

Right from the synopsis, Boy Erased is shaping up to be a disturbing and uncomfortable descent into the intricacies of gay conversion therapy. The story, based on the true-life memoir of the same name by Garrard Conley, follows a young Garrard (played by Lucas Hedges) discovering his sexuality as a teenager and being forced to “change” through the use of conversion therapy, bringing the already-sensitive topic of coming out as gay to a disturbingly real story.

The trailer for Boy Erased highlights the frightening absurdity of conversion therapy, with several shots in the trailer placing Garrard among a group of other boys in therapy. These shots reveal parts of sequences that involve the boys being lined up and yelled at by the instructors, who consistently reference the notion that God won’t love them if they continue to feel the way that they do. Edgerton makes the bold choice to film these scenes in the same vein of the R. Lee Ermey sequence in Full Metal Jacket, complete with drill instructor-like intensity to further highlight the terrifying events that Garrard has went through in his past.

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Boy Erased‘s sensitive subject matter is not only an effective shot at provoking strong emotion in the audience, but it may indeed be Lucas Hedges’ breakout moment as an actor. He’s done relatively well as a supporting actor for numerous Oscar-winning films, often standing out in his own way from the already-talented casts of the respective films. But director Joel Edgerton will give Lucas his first real test as a leading star, as the trailer for Boy Erased is largely focused on Hedges himself experiencing a wide array of horrific events, from coming out to his dad to his experiences in conversion therapy.

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It’ll be interesting to see how Boy Erased fares for Oscar season come this Fall. The playing field, at this point, is still relatively unknown, but Boy Erased has enormous potential to be an awards darling, especially with the involvement of talent such as Russell Crowe and Nicole Kidman. Hedges himself is already an Oscar-nominee from 2016, so it’s entirely possible that the Academy would be willing to give him a chance for this film. It remains to be seen how this film will fare both critically and commercially, but as of now, the Oscar season may look to be shaking up soon.

Boy Erased will be released on November 2nd.