'The Miseducation Of Cameron Post' Trailer: Chloe Grace Moretz Is Sent To Gay Conversion Camp In This Sundance Darling

The Miseducation of Cameron Post has neither the happy sheen of a coming-of-age movie, nor the weepy inspirational tone of an LGBT coming-out film. Instead, it drifts somewhere in-between. The Sundance darling stars Chloe Grace Moretz as a lesbian high schooler who gets sent against her will to a gay conversion camp where she finds a sort of community among the misfit teens, and a bid at discovering her own identity.

Directed by Desiree Akhavan and based on the novel by Emily M. Danforth, the drama made a splash at Sundance where it won the Grand Jury Prize. Now, after making the festival rounds at Sundance, Tribeca, and more, The Miseducation of Cameron Post will make its way to select theaters in the U.S. You can watch the trailer below.

Set in 1993, The Miseducation of Cameron Post feels achingly relevant to today, as the titular Cameron Post (Moretz) is sent to a gay conversion therapy center after she is discovered having sex with the prom queen. Unexpectedly, she finds a few kindred spirits there in a few fellow outcast teens who have been enrolled in the camp (Forrest Goodluck and American Honey breakout Sasha Lane) and even in the kind-hearted Reverend Rick (John Gallagher Jr.), who seems to genuinely care for the kids despite espousing his chilly sister's (Jennifer Ehle) backwards conservative teachings.

In our Tribeca review of the drama (which is also quoted in the trailer), Siddhant Adlakha writes, "The Miseducation of Cameron Post doesn't claim to be an instructional on how to navigate the confusion of growing up (or the confusion of growing up queer). What it is however, is an honest reflection of harrowing uncertainty, broken up by moments of unbridled joy – which Akhavan captures like lightning in a bottle – as lost souls push back against a seemingly universal unfairness."

Having caught the film at Tribeca myself, I am in total agreement with Siddhant's review. The film is miraculous in its quiet ambiguity and in Moretz's brilliant performance as a teen uncertain of whether she — or anyone — has the right answers. It's a lovely film, and one of the best coming-of-age movies in recent memory.

Here is the official synopsis for The Miseducation of Cameron Post:

Based on the celebrated novel by Emily M. Danforth, The Miseducation of Cameron Post follows the titular character (Chloë Grace Moretz) as she is sent to a gay conversion therapy center after getting caught having sex with the prom queen. Run by the strict Dr. Lydia Marsh (Jennifer Ehle) and her brother, Reverend Rick (John Gallagher Jr.) — himself an example of how those in the program can be "cured" — the center is populated by teens "struggling with same-sex attraction." In the face of outlandish discipline, dubious methods, and earnest Christian rock songs, Cameron forms an unlikely gay community, including the amputee stoner Jane (Sasha Lane) and the Lakota Two-Spirit, Adam (Forrest Goodluck). In creating a family on her own terms, she learns what it means to empower herself and have confidence in her identity.

The Miseducation of Cameron Post will open in selected theaters in New York on August 3 and Los Angeles on August 10, 2018.