The film is stitched together nicely, with hardly any dead space of fat; the two-hour long journey into the horrors of conversion therapy glide by easily, with only a slight drag in its latter portion. Oftentimes, editor Jay Robinowitz will cut a scene short, allowing the audio to bleed over into the establishing shot of the next scene, which really keeps the momentum chugging along at a steady rate. The tight editing matches the tone of Edgerton’s direction, which includes a lot of camera movements and close ups to place us into the subjectivity of the characters. There is a certain horror sensibility on display here, and Edgerton leans into that when appropriate to create scenes that boil over with tension.

With a grade A team of talent, far and away the greatest aspect of this film is its performances. No matter how big or small the part, the actors do wonders. Lucas Hedges gives another fantastic performance that stands amongst his best work. Even though the film doesn’t dive too deeply into his character, he’s able to bring such pathos and gravitas to the role, and he continues to prove that he’s a young talent worth keeping your eyes on. Kidman delivers an expectedly great performance, and she burns up the screen toward the end of the film. Crowe is a bit underutilized, but he makes for a convincing minister and is given a weighty scene near the close that shows his skills. Out of a many great supporting performances, Flea shines the brightest with his mashing of humor and intimidation.