The Miseducation of Cameron Post (2018) is a coming-of-age drama based on Emily M. Danforthโs novel of the same name. Set in the early 1990s, the film follows Cameron Post (Chloรซ Grace Moretz), a teenage girl sent to a gay conversion therapy center after being caught in an intimate moment with her female best friend on prom night. The movie explores themes of identity, repression, and self-acceptance as Cameron navigates the harsh and emotionally manipulative environment of the facility.
Cameron appears to be a typical high school girl, attending church, dating a boy, and blending in with her conservative community. However, her secret relationship with her best friend, Coley, is exposed when they are discovered making out in a car. Her guardians, deeply religious and ashamed, send her to Godโs Promise, a secluded camp that claims to "cure" same-sex attraction through faith-based therapy. Cameron is confused and resistant but has little choice in the matter. She is forced into a rigid program led by Dr. Lydia Marsh (Jennifer Ehle) and her brother, Reverend Rick (John Gallagher Jr.), a man who claims to have overcome his own homosexuality through faith.
At Godโs Promise, Cameron meets other teenagers subjected to the same treatment, including Jane Fonda (Sasha Lane), a rebellious girl who smuggles weed into the camp, and Adam Red Eagle (Forrest Goodluck), a two-spirit Native American who hides his true self to avoid further punishment. Unlike some of the other residents who desperately want to "change," Cameron, Jane, and Adam see the campโs methods as misguided and harmful. They form a close bond, offering each other comfort and solidarity in an environment designed to break them.
The campโs methods include group therapy sessions, prayer, and "moral inventories," where students are forced to dissect their "sinful" desires and blame external influences, such as absent fathers or childhood trauma. Cameron quickly realizes that the program is more about control and shame than actual healing. She observes how some students, like Mark (Owen Campbell), genuinely try to change but only end up hurting themselves in the process. Markโs breakdown and self-harm serve as a turning point for Cameron, reinforcing the dangers of conversion therapy.
As Cameron spends more time at Godโs Promise, she becomes increasingly disillusioned with the program and the hypocrisy of its leaders. Reverend Rick, who preaches about overcoming same-sex attraction, still exhibits signs of repression, and Dr. Marshโs methods seem more about power than compassion. Cameron, Jane, and Adam begin planning their escape, realizing that their only chance at survival is to take control of their own futures.
In the climax of the film, Cameron and her friends leave the camp, walking away from the oppressive system that seeks to erase them. The film ends on an open-ended note, emphasizing that their journey to self-acceptance is ongoing but now firmly in their own hands. The Miseducation of Cameron Post delivers a powerful critique of conversion therapy while celebrating resilience, friendship, and the right to love and be loved for who you truly are.
