{"id":5825,"date":"2018-08-17T09:34:40","date_gmt":"2018-08-17T16:34:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dailyfilmfix.com\/?p=5825"},"modified":"2018-08-17T09:34:40","modified_gmt":"2018-08-17T16:34:40","slug":"review-the-miseducation-of-cameron-post","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dailyfilmfix.com\/?p=5825","title":{"rendered":"Review: THE MISEDUCATION OF CAMERON POST"},"content":{"rendered":"

Chlo\u00eb Grace Moretz continues her impressive work in Desiree Akhavan\u2019s gay conversion drama.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\"\"\u201cThe Miseducation of Cameron Post\u201d is, yet, another showcase for Moretz, who literally burst onto the screen and into the hearts of viewers playing Hit Girl ten years ago in \u201cKick Ass.\u201d A captivating drama about an important subject, this film will go far to make Moretz\u2019 antics as a pint-sized killing machine a further fading memory.<\/p>\n

In the film, she plays Cameron, a typical teen, who is caught having sex with a girlfriend in a car during a high school prom. Humiliated and shamed, Cameron is sent to a Christian camp, aimed at re-educating young people who are questioning their sexuality. It\u2019s located in a seemingly remote mountainous region, where the campers are cut off from the outside world. Isolation is clearly intended.<\/p>\n

\"\"This camp or compound, run by Dr. Lydia Marsh (Jennifer Ehle) and the weak Reverend Rick (John Gallagher, Jr.), is a pleasant enough place, but the mood is fairly morose. The camper\/patients attend classes with the goal to acquaint them with proper, appropriate, normal sexual behavior. Of course, sex is not really part of the education, rather, the emphasis is on puritanic views of men and women.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

The time period is the early 1990s, when the AIDS crisis, at least for some, no longer held the shock value that gripped and vilified groups in the \u201880s. But Cameron is still the victim of an insidious world view, one that applies religion to biology without regard to one\u2019s actual identity. These views, now somewhat softening, are still embraced today.<\/p>\n

A low-key boiler, \u201cThe Miseducation of Cameron Post\u201d doesn\u2019t beat you over the head with a particular ideology. As the teens struggle with their feelings, Cameron\u2019s personality is very non-committal. And wouldn\u2019t it be? She\u2019s forming her sense of self, and the school has added to the confusion.<\/p>\n

Akhavan works from a script that she wrote with Cecilia Frugiuele, adapting a novel written by Emily M. Danforth. It\u2019s but a snapshot of a few weeks or months and never becomes a screed, advocating on behalf of one position or another. That\u2019s exactly the right narrative approach, given the point of view is from Cameron\u2019s wavering vantage point.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

The muted color pallet applied to cinematographer Ashley Connor\u2019s work strikes the right balance. The film feels very early 1990s, and the slightly vintage coloring and lens choices help sell the period.<\/p>\n

Moretz is an actress that\u2019s everywhere. She\u2019s one of my daughter\u2019s favorites. Having read every word of \u201cThe Fifth Wave\u201d and the other YA novels in the series, my daughter has been a massive Moretz fan for years now.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

But when I popped this film on to watch with her, I immediately realized that it was not appropriate for a 14-year-old. The nagging question I had, after I stopped the movie and found something else, was whether I was being the Puritan? My daughter, an actress, well knows how I feel about this issue, but it was impossible for me to watch Moretz act as though she is engaging in somewhat explicit sexual activity on screen with my 14-year-old also watching. Make no mistake, these scenes are important and work for the story, but I made a parental decision.<\/p>\n

And this reminded me that adult stories about kids are not made for the kids, not necessarily. They are meant to help shape adult perceptions. If you\u2019ve never heard of gay conversion therapy, \u201cThe Miseducation of Cameron Post\u201d is a good entry point. Later this year, we will see Joel Edgerton\u2019s take on the material with \u201cBoy Erased.\u201d There\u2019s no doubt that exploring this thorny subject is worthy of many films.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Miseducation of Cameron Post\u201d is a well-made, quiet and restrained cautionary tale.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Chlo\u00eb Grace Moretz delivers thoughtful performance in gay conversion therapy drama.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[19],"tags":[659,660,661,662,663,664,665,666],"class_list":["post-5825","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-reviews","tag-cecilia-frugiuele","tag-chloe-grace-moretz","tag-desiree-akhavan","tag-emily-m-danforth","tag-jennifer-ehle","tag-john-gallagher","tag-jr","tag-the-miseducation-of-cameron-post","no-thumb"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyfilmfix.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5825","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyfilmfix.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyfilmfix.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyfilmfix.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyfilmfix.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=5825"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dailyfilmfix.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5825\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyfilmfix.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=5825"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyfilmfix.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=5825"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyfilmfix.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=5825"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}