Coming of Age With the ‘Boys in the Trees’ [Horror Queers Podcast]

What’s a Bogan?

Joe and I have been on a roll with our “Underrated or Underseen?” theme for the first quarter of the year! As we move through the 2010s, we’ve discussed Rob Zombie’s polarizing 2013 film The Lords of Salem, then we had a few laughs with a discussion of Gerard Johnstone’s 2014 film Housebound. We got chilly with Oz Perkin’s The Blackcoat’s Daughter for 2015 and now we’re discussing Nicholas Verso‘s 2016 tearjerker Boys in the Trees!

In the film, alienated teens Corey (Toby Wallace) and Jonah (Gulliver McGrath) begrudgingly find themselves walking home together on Halloween 1997, their last night of high school. They embark on a journey through their memories, dreams and fears as they lay the ghosts of their past to rest.

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Episode 164 – Boys in the Trees (2016)

Blast your ’90s music and prepare to get vulnerable with your masculinity because we’re talking Nicholas Verso’s 2016 coming-of-age drama Boys in the Trees! Joining us for this discussion (one that Joe’s been waiting two years for) is Aussie author Aaron Dries (Dirty Heads, House of Sighs)!

Join us as we discuss the film’s handling of some admittedly sensitive subject matter (CW: sexual assault) before discussing the creative process that removed any explicit queer content from the film. Expect plenty of comparisons to Stand By Me, The NeverEnding Story, Bridge to Terabithia and E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial.

Plus: Whip-its/nangs, trading bullying stories (watch out for shaving cream!), toxic fire extinguisher snow and some lessons in Australian culture. Oh, and Joe and Aaron have a meet-cute!

Cross out Boys in the Trees!

Coming up on Wednesday: We’re continuing our “Underrated or Underseen?” theme with a look at Darren Aronofsky’s 2017 shocker mother!!

P.S. Subscribe to our Patreon for more than 160 hours of additional content! This month, we’re discussing Sound Cues that Stick Out, as well as Yellowjackets S01, Death on the Nile, Leatherface and an anniversary audio commentary on A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors!