2018 Sundance Film Festival Predictions: Desiree Akhavan’s The Miseducation of Cameron Post

One of the choice multi-tasker discoveries of 2014 Sundance edition both behind, and in-front of the camera, Desiree Akhavan recently divulged (to IndieWIRE) just what one can expect after having a hot property in Park City that is not a real estate listing. We’ve been awaiting her next indiewood project with impatience, and her sophomore film with a cool-sounding title netted a nice ensemble cast comprised of Chloë Grace Moretz, the future is bright Sasha Lane, John Gallagher, Jr., Forrest Goodluck and Jennifer Ehle. Under the guise of a gay conversion therapy dramedy, this could be an assault of the senses. We actually thought this might make for a really last minute addition for the last Sundance edition, but shooting on The Miseducation of Cameron Post began way back in November of 2016. Written once again by Appropriate Behavior team of Akhavan and Cecilia Frugiuele, the coming-of-ager is an adaptation of the book by the same name by Emily M. Danforth. We’re thinking this might be in the same situational vein as a Citizen Ruth, and while we await the status on this Brit-American production, we can Akhavan flex her acting muscles in Patrick Brice’s Creep 2.

Gist: When Cameron Post (Chloë Grace Moretz) loses her parents in a car accident she’s left with a sense of guilt and relief because their deaths mean they’ll never learn that she’s gay. Years later (1993) 16-year-old Cameron is living with her born-again Evangelical aunt while (secretly) sleeping with the prom queen. When the girls are caught in the back of her boyfriend’s car, Cameron’s sent to to God’s Promise, a conversion therapy center where teens are “cured” of their homosexual attractions. It’s in this surreal setting that she finds her place among two fellow sinners, Jane (Sasha Lane) and Adam (Forrest Goodluck) who introduce her to the pleasures of normal teen life. She even opens herself up to the possibility of change until one of her classmates has a breakdown and she comes face to face with the cost of brainwashing yourself into denying your identity and fighting against your every urge. It’s then that she, Jane and Adam realize their best hope for “salvation” is to escape.

Production Co./Producers: Beachside’s Michael B. Clark, Alex Turtletaub (The Incredible Jessica James), Parkville Pictures‘ Cecilia Frugiuele (Appropriate Behaviour).

Prediction: My money is on the U.S. Dramatic Comp before a return to the NEXT section.

U.S. Distributor: Rights Available. WME (domestic). Elle Driver (international)