Product Description

When Mark--a young gay man addicted to sex and drugs--hits bottom, his concerned brother checks him into a Christian retreat in the New Mexico desert. Run by a compassionate husband and wife team, Gayle and Ted have made it their life's mission to cure young men of their 'gay affliction' through spiritual guidance. At first, Mark resists, but soon takes the message to heart. As Mark's fellowship with his fellow Ex-Gays grow stronger, however, he finds himself powerfully drawn to Scott, another young man battling family demons of his own. As their friendship begins to develop into romance, Mark and Scott are forced to confront their true selves.

Featuring powerful performances and even-handed direction, this acclaimed drama is a subtly nuanced and deeply sympathetic look at both sides of one of the most polarizing debates in America: the conflict and possible reconciliation between homosexuality and Christianity.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #21576 in DVD
• Released on: 2009-01-20
• Rating: Unrated
• Aspect ratio: 2.35:1
• Formats: Color, DVD, NTSC, Widescreen
• Original language: English
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 96 minutes

Review
Up there with Brokeback Mountain as one of the most powerful gay dramas of recent years. --Time Out London

Review
A thoughtful, important film of exceptional insight and quietly devastating power. --Kevin Thomas, Los Angeles Times

Customer Reviews

From Genesis to Revelations
I literally just got back from seeing this movie not more than fifteen minutes ago at a local film festival; the fact that my first order of business is to write a review is a testament to how much it impressed me. I heard it mentioned only in passing some time ago and decided to look into it, and since the showing happened to be on a day when I had little else to do, I thought, well, why not? Good choice on my part.

I confess: I thought that I knew what to expect from this film. I mean, it's about a misguided gay man being sent to a Christian reformation program to cure him of his "sexual brokenness." Clearly lots of horrible things were going to happen! However, I was very much surprised for the better. I laughed, I found myself with watery eyes, and the audience even collectively gasped at one point. There are no "bad" people in this movie. Each character is weighed fairly and fleshed out into real, believable, understandable human beings, and I sympathized with each of them in a different way. And even though the film opens with contrasting images of a sex scene and an evangelical church congregation singing a hymn, this movie is by no means about gratuitous sex or pitching ideologies against one another with the aim of making one side look terrible.

I would have appreciated more attention being given to Mark's actual transformation inside "Genesis House"--the transition from him as a confrontational, unstable wreck to a well-manned and well-groomed member of the group happens abruptly and largely without explanation--but the film could only contain so much, and the great attention that was given to the exploration of human interaction and relationships made up for it.

"Save Me" has claimed a very early spot on my Wish List. I can't wait for it to be released.

First-rank story-telling, acting and directing
Easily one of the best gay-themed films of the last 5 years. The film does a remarkable job of telling the story of Christianity and homosexuality and the intricate, often destructive dance between the two, but does so with subtle and thoughtful care. Not a bad actor in the film, the film quality is exceptional, and the writing is both brilliant and well-interpreted. It has a clean, spare, lucid feel that helps it transcend the usual shouting and finger-pointing done around the topic of "ex-gays" and people that purport to help gays and lesbians become straight. This is worth seeing regardless of your belief or perspective on this topic.

Beautiful and True to Life and Love
Save Me was the best film I have seen thus far dealing with ex-gay ministries. Having spent five years in therapy to `become straight' as well as working with two different ex-gay therapy groups, the movie spoke to me on a very personal level. My next step was to go to a place like Genesis house. It was a step I never took, and am so thankful that God allowed me to skip that particular event and instead let me begin my journey to who I am today: a healthy gay man, who loves who he is, loves his long-term, monogamous boyfriend, and is very happy with his life. Save Me, I felt, was a very realistic portrayal of those in the ex-gay ministries, both as clients and as founders/leaders of the programs. The gay men were believable and their stories valid and relatable. However, the true star of the show was Judith Light's character, the woman leading Genesis House. What I appreciated the most was how the film truly respected both sides of this issue and the people involved in it. From my experience, and I know there are others that had much worse than I, the leaders of the ex-gay ministries were not evil or filled with hate. They were so very much the opposite, people who genuinely loved the gay men and women they worked with, continuously giving of themselves in order to show us love, who's only genuine desire was to help us go to Heaven and live in God's love. And, like all of us, they were broken as well. Save Me did a beautiful job showing the love and the pain on all sides. As I sat watching the film, at times I was paralyzed by the memories that came back to me from my experience, as well as by thankfulness that God allowed me to avoid certain steps that I nearly took, and let me simply find His love and His acceptance as a gay man, instead of staying in such a state of eternal torment and struggle.