Childhood footage of a sweet and innocent boy, portrayed by Lucas Hedges, introduces us to Jared as a teenager sitting in church, listening to his father, Marshall Eamons, deliver a sermon about the imperfections of humanity. His mother, Nancy Eamons, sits nearby, cheerfully absorbing the lesson while Jared glances at a young lady across the aisle.
The narrative swiftly transitions to a point in Jared’s life when he is being driven by his mother to a facility. As he playfully sticks his arm out the window to simulate surfing, Nancy quickly warns him against it, sharing a cautionary tale about a child losing an arm in a similar scenario. Reluctantly, he rolls up the window upon her urging.
Upon arriving at the clinic, Jared must sign in and surrender all his possessions until 5 PM when his mother returns. A staff member named Michael, slightly abrasive, orders Jared to delete all contacts from his phone deemed inappropriate by the clinic’s standards. Each incoming client, including Jared, soon discovers they are part of a controversial gay conversion program aptly named Love in Action, run by Victor Sykes.
During their orientation, the group read aloud stringent rules that suppress their natural interactions. Victor gives a thought-provoking sermon, using a crumpled dollar bill as a metaphor to illustrate how their perceived "sins" of homosexuality are merely choices that can be reformed. Among his peers are Gary, played by musician Troye Sivan, and Jon, portrayed by Xavier Dolan, whose rugged complexion hints at a troubled past marked by an abusive father.
The sessions delve deeper into their emotional struggles, culminating in activities designed to uncover familial traumas that they are to attribute to their homosexual feelings. Jared, finding solace in his lack of significant familial baggage, becomes a target of Victor’s scrutiny, as he believes this is the root of Jared’s supposed moral failings.
Flashbacks detail Jared's typical high school existence—basketball practices, a girlfriend, and family moments prior to his birthday, which seems perfect on the surface but obscured by an internal struggle. As reality sets back in, Jared finds a timeline that leads him back to the clinic, where his belongings are searched, and pages from his journal are unfairly ripped away by Michael and the policies of Love in Action.
The emotional upheaval continues as Jared meets Sarah, a timid fellow participant, who finds humor in their plight. Yet, the conditioning methods employed at the clinic become ever more evident as they face psychological exercises that force them to confront their identities and perceived weaknesses.
The situation escalates when Victor enforces masculinity standards to the extreme, stripping away individual identities and molding them into ideals based on biased stereotypes. Jared’s hidden anguish becomes palpable when another participant, a small and timid boy, is tormented during therapy sessions that prioritize aggression over empathy.
As sessions unfold, tension builds when Jared experiences a traumatic incident with Henry, a fellow college student, leading to feelings of betrayal, shame, and confusion. This causal interplay illustrates the damaging consequences of the conversion therapy purportedly aimed at “curing” them.
Eventually, Jared’s confrontation with his own sexual identity leads to familial strife as his parents grapple with their roles and responsibilities. When a fellow participant, Cameron, falls victim to the ruthless pressure of the program, Jared begins to realize the grim reality of conversion therapy’s impact, culminating in his desperate decision to escape.
Through a series of harrowing events, including prayer sessions, confrontations, and family dynamics shifting towards a strained acceptance, we witness Jared’s journey toward self-acceptance and liberation from suffocating societal expectations. In a powerful moment of defiance, he ultimately retrieves his belongings, defying the manipulative environment designed to suppress his identity.
The story closes with Jared's transformative journey well beyond the realms of conversion therapy. Now living his truth as a writer in New York, he reflects on his past while impacting societal awareness about the ongoing legalities surrounding conversion therapy.
Through this poignant tale, we learn of the resilience found through struggle, the importance of understanding individual identities, and the pressing need for compassion towards those trapped in similar circumstances. In the end, title cards reveal compelling realities both in Jared’s life and the broader implications of conversion therapy that still affect countless individuals today.
