I Am Michael

Plot

The controversial true story depicts a gay activist Michael Glatze who rejects his homosexuality and becomes a Christian pastor.

Cast

Production

On April 1, 2014, James Franco was added to the film to play the gay activist Michael Glatze, who renounced his homosexuality. Justin Kelly was set to direct the film Michael based on Benoit Denizet-Lewis' New York Times Magazine article "My Ex-Gay Friend", while Gus Van Sant would executive produce the film. On July 14, Zachary Quinto, Emma Roberts, and Chris Zylka joined the cast of the film. Quinto would play Bennett, the former boyfriend of Franco's character, Roberts would play his girlfriend, and Zylka would play another past love interest.

Director Justin Kelly said that "this isn't just a story about an 'ex-gay', it's actually a very relatable story about the power of belief and the desire to belong". On August 14, Charlie Carver joined the film to play Tyler, who gets involved in a relationship with Michael and Bennett and is heartbroken when Michael rejects his homosexuality. On August 15, Avan Jogia joined the film as Nico, a young man whom Michael meets and falls for along his journey. On August 18, Lesley Ann Warren joined the film's cast to play Franco's character's mother. On August 25, Daryl Hannah joined the film to play Deborah, who runs a Colorado Buddhist retreat where Michael goes to find solace.

Filming

Principal photography began on August 11, 2014, in New York City as actor Franco shared images from the set. On August 20, Franco was spotted during filming on Ocean Avenue in East Rockaway. The production wrapped on August 31, 2014 in Baldwin, New York.

Release

The film was released at the 2015 Sundance Film Festival, and also screened in the Panorama section of the 65th Berlin International Film Festival. It received its California premiere during the 17th FilmOut San Diego LGBT Film Festival. The film was the opening night film of the Frameline Film Festival on June 18, 2015 at the Castro Theatre in San Francisco. Brainstorm Media acquired distribution rights to the film, and set the film for a limited release and through video on demand on January 27, 2017.

Reception

The film drew mostly mixed to mildly positive reviews. Writing for Variety, Peter Debruge wrote, "An unusually nuanced James Franco carries this complex portrait of a man who came out and fought to encourage other LGBT youth before converting to conservative Christianity," but said that the film was too dry and kept the title character too distant and veiled in its attempt to be impartial.

Boyd van Hoeij wrote in The Hollywood Reporter, "Thankfully, the screenplay doesn’t portray the story in simple terms of good or evil, but that doesn’t mean that there’s quite enough nuance or insight to constantly elevate the material above the level of a well-made-but-TV-ready biopic." Indiewire's Eric Kohn gave the film a B+ grade.