Focus Features has released the first trailer for writer/director Joel Edgerton’s upcoming drama Boy Erased. The film is based on Garrard Conley’s memoir of the same name which chronicles his experience as a gay teenager who is sent to a conversion therapy program when he’s outed to his religious parents. Manchester by the Sea and Lady Bird breakout Lucas Hedges fills the lead role, but the film also boasts a terrific ensemble cast that includes Russell Crowe and Nicole Kidman as the boy’s parents and filmmaker/actor Xavier Dolan.

This movie looks fantastic. Edgerton showed major directing chops with his underrated thriller The Gift, and he looks to be taking a huge step up here with this intensely dramatic and emotionally charged material. The performances are excellent as well, and there's no doubt this will be a major player on the awards circuit to come.

Check out the Boy Erased trailer below. The film also stars Cherry JonesMichael “Flea” BalzaryTroye SivanJoe AlwynEmily HinklerJesse LaTouretteDavid Joseph CraigThéodore PellerinMadelyn Cline, and Britton SearBoy Erased opens in theaters on September 28th.

Here’s the official synopsis for Boy Erased:

“Boy Erased” tells the story of Jared (Hedges), the son of a Baptist pastor in a small American town, who is outed to his parents (Kidman and Crowe) at age 19. Jared is faced with an ultimatum: attend a conversion therapy program – or be permanently exiled and shunned by his family, friends, and faith. Boy Erased is the true story of one young man’s struggle to find himself while being forced to question every aspect of his identity.

boy-erased-joel-edgerton
Image via Focus Features
boy-erased-russell-crowe-nicole-kidman
Image via Focus Features

boy-erased-poster
Image via Focus Features