Latter Days (2004) on Netflix
Elder Aaron Davis, a Mormon from Pocatello, Idaho, arrives in Los Angeles with three companions. Openly gay party boy Christian Markelli, their neighbor, bets he can seduce one of them.
- Netflix2.9/5
- IMDb7.1/1019,614 votes
- Rotten Tomatoes46%
Trailer
Plot summary
Elder Aaron Davis leaves Pocatello, Idaho, for Los Angeles with three other Mormon missionaries, among them his assigned partner, Elder Paul Ryder. Next door lives Christian Markelli, an openly gay party boy who waits tables at Lila's with his roommate Julie Taylor. After an awkward first meeting, Christian accepts a bet from his co-workers that he can seduce one of the missionaries. Aaron, the least experienced of the four, is closeted, and the two keep crossing paths around the apartment complex. Christian tries to seduce Aaron, who accuses him of being shallow and leaves. Christian starts bringing meals to people with AIDS. Aaron, meanwhile, befriends Lila Montagne, the owner of the restaurant where Christian works.
Cast
Did you know?!Facts and trivia about Latter Days (2004)
Can contain spoilers, watch the movie first.
- Madstone Theaters, an arthouse cinema chain with nine cinemas, banned Latter Days, saying it was "not up to [our] artistic quality", after conservative groups threatened boycotts and protests to force the planned release to be withdrawn.
- Latter Days was the first film to portray LGBTQ Mormon characters and the conflict between the teachings of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and same-sex romantic and sexual relationships.
- Joseph Gordon-Levitt originally auditioned to play the missionary Aaron, but the producers cast him as Elder Paul Ryder instead, deciding his aggressive attitude toward the script and his good sense of humor made him perfect for that part.
- Writer-director C. Jay Cox based both leads, Christian and Aaron, on himself: he was raised as a Mormon and served a mission before coming out as gay, and wondered what the two halves of himself would have said to each other.
- Rebekah Johnson, who played Julie Taylor, did not appear on the official soundtrack album for contractual reasons, so her character's songs were performed by Nita Whitaker instead.
- Although he came from a Mormon background, C. Jay Cox had to research the excommunication tribunal scenes by talking to former Mormons, who gave him "a pretty accurate representation, right down to the folding tables".
