C.O.G. (2013)

C.O.G.: Directed by Kyle Patrick Alvarez. With Jonathan Groff, Tyra Richards, Beth Furumasu, Keiko Green. A cocky young man travels to Oregon to work on an apple farm. Out of his element, he finds his lifestyle and notions being picked apart by everyone who crosses his path.

“The instant I saw the boy from Glee on the screen with his college sweater, against a score of staccato claps, I knew this film and the word u0026#39;Pretentiousu0026#39; were already entwined till the credits with the muted plucking music.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eSo as the Backlash B-tch I am, I decided to watch the whole film just to spite that particular stereotype.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eGod, Iu0026#39;m glad I did! I was born in a religious cult…called C.O.G. So itu0026#39;s kind of unsurprising that I resonated with it. But this film has so much that is human, and raw, and true about it that it has to have some impact on the rest of you. Groffu0026#39;s performance goes from cocky and superior in the most honest portrayal of the usual American postgrad Iu0026#39;ve seen, to so vulnerable and naive and yearning that my heart felt like it was being crushed. Heu0026#39;s as lost, disenfranchised and confused as every other 20-something I know – but it seeps out of his pores and swims in his eyes in a way thatu0026#39;s very hard to watch. I guess thatu0026#39;s the Millenial Generation, stripped bare and made fun of, yet not looked down on. David is just a boy, not a polarising symbol of a Lost Generation, and the film knows this.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eJust a boy. Thatu0026#39;s why it hurt to see him be taken advantage of, time and again. It hurt even more, for me, to watch him try to find himself and cure his sexual u0026#39;sicknessu0026#39; in religion. I have known people like John. They exist. Everyone in this film exists.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eIu0026#39;m not being coherent. This film impacted me that much.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eI think you should watch it.”