Latter Days

Latter Days is a 2003 American romantic comedy drama film about the relationship between a Mormon missionary who is in the closet and his openly gay neighbor. The film was written and directed by C. Jay Cox and stars Steve Sandvoss as the missionary, Aaron, and Wes Ramsey as the neighbor, Christian. Joseph Gordon-Levitt appears as Elder Ryder and Rebekah Johnson as Julie Taylor. Mary Kay Place, Khary Payton, Erik Palladino, Amber Benson, and Jacqueline Bisset have supporting roles. Latter Days premiered at the Philadelphia International Gay & Lesbian Film Festival on July 10, 2003, and was released in various U.S. states over the next 12 months. Later the film was shown at several gay film festivals. It 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 (LDS Church) and same-sex romantic and sexual relationships. Showings in some U.S. states were controversial. Various religious groups demanded that the film be withdrawn from theaters and video stores under boycott threats. The film was met with mixed reactions from film critics but was popular with most film festival attendees. At the North American box office, Latter Days made about $835,000, which barely covered the production's budget of $850,000. In 2004, freelance writer T. Fabris adapted the film into a novel, which was published by Alyson Publications.