Hello dear readers, and before I get into this review, I wanted to get some housekeeping out of the way. I apologize for my extended and unannounced absence, and I’m hoping y’all could forgive me. I’m officially back and ready to bless your reader boards with some great queer content! I’m developing a posting schedule at the moment, and ask for your patience as I figure out what days and times are going to work best. Thank you!
Additionally, some of you might be asking “Hey Nyla, isn’t this a BOOK blog? Why would you post a review of a movie?!” and my answer to that would be: Follow me on Twitter!
Haha, jokes aside, my Twitter account is a great way to be more involved in what I post here on the blog. I posted a poll a while back asking if my followers would be interested in movie reviews, given the movies were adapted from queer novels, and the response was a resounding yes! You can find my account by either clicking on the lovely Twitter bird icon in the sidebar, or clicking this link. Or you could try the old fashioned way of searching by typing linn_nyla in the search bar.
Now, without further ado, the review!
Warnings (spoilers ahead):
- Sexual Content: Three semi-graphic sexual encounters between underage (~16 years) girls, typically around a minute in length of time. There is no genital nudity but one character does have her top removed during one scene, exposing her breasts. These encounters are consensual. One scene involving an imaginary fantasy (dream sequence) between an underage girl (~16 years) and her teacher that does not go further than kissing. Some light jokes of implied sexual nature between teens (~16-17 years).
- Drugs and Alcohol: Semi-frequent recreational marijuana use by teens (~16-17 years) throughout the film, though it is not a major highlight nor very explicit in nature.
- Homophobia: Because the premise of the film is set in a conversion camp/school setting, there are frequent depictions of homophobia both internalized and from outside forces, primarily in a religious (Christian) context; while many characters support this belief system, the main character and her allies question and speak against this treatment.
- Depiction of Mental Health: Homosexuality or fluid gender identity are treated as a mental illness by some characters in the film and queer characters receive therapy to correct this perceived illness; a character who is not the protagonist self-harms in a graphic but off-screen manner and is hospitalized as a result which is discussed in-depth by characters on-screen
Review:
As readers of this blog will know, The Miseducation of Cameron Post (2012) is my favorite book and when I tell you I was excited to learn there was a movie in the works, it’s a huge understatement. I love Chloë Grace Moretz and I think she makes the perfect Cameron.
The film, directed by Desiree Akhavan, was stunning with heartfelt performances from the cast and a gorgeously relevant soundtrack. It hit me hard in “the feels” and I felt just as connected to Cameron as ever. As someone who grew up in the Christian faith, a lot of the struggles Cameron faces and the rhetoric used by those in power is very relatable—too relatable at times. There were times during both viewings that I questioned myself and my identity, falling back into old habits and views of the “sin” that I live in.
Luckily, though, the film brought these feelings full circle and put them in their place. By the end of the movie I felt more confident in my queer identity, and remember that there are people in the world I can trust.
So was the movie good? Absolutely. But this is a literature blog, so let’s return to our roots. How does the movie compare to the book?
I’ll say that, for what the movie depicts, it did a very close job. From Cameron’s arrival to the “God’s Promise” facility, to the end, it’s almost a page to screen comparison. The tone is there, the characters match, and some of the lines are pulled directly from the book.
However, one gripe I do have is that the entire first half of the book is cut. I understand the need to make adjustments for time when switching genres, but some of the integral parts to Cameron’s queer identity got left in the dust. She becomes a flatter version of herself, and while it still works great for the film as a film, when viewed next to book!Cameron, it’s obvious which one has more substance.
Additionally, some of my favorite character relationships didn’t make it into the movie. Cameron’s grandmother is completely cut out of the story, and her friendship with Jamie is reduced to “the boyfriend who I cheated on with a girl” and he’s more of an antagonist than the ally he was in the book. Not to mention her past romantic relationships or complicated feelings about her parents. Obviously some changes needed to be made to work as a film, but as a reader of the book, there were some parts that I really missed.
All in all, though, I think Akhavan did an amazing job and I’m so happy to see queer women in the film industry shining brightly. I would absolutely recommend this movie to anyone, readers and non-readers, lesbians and non-lesbians, anyone, really. It’s an emotional watch but a sincere one, and I enjoyed it.
You can buy it on Amazon here and here is a trailer if you’re interested!
Also, if you haven’t read the book yet (or even if you have) you can read my review here.
Sincerely Yours,
Nyla Linn (She/Her)
Lit. Lesbian 