''C.O.G.'' is an American comedy-drama film directed and written by

Kyle Patrick Alvarez Kyle Patrick Alvarez (born 1983) is an American film director and screenwriter. Early life and education Alvarez was born in Miami, and attended the University of Miami. Career His first film, '' Easier with Practice'', was based on a '' GQ'' ar ...

and starring

Jonathan Groff Jonathan Drew Groff (born March 26, 1985) is an American actor and singer . He began his career on Broadway, rising to prominence for his portrayal of Melchior Gabor in the original production of '' Spring Awakening'' (2006-2008), for which h ...

. The film is based on a

David Sedaris David Raymond Sedaris (; born December 26, 1956) is an American humorist, comedian, author, and radio contributor. He was publicly recognized in 1992 when National Public Radio broadcast his essay " Santaland Diaries.” He published his first c ...

short story from his book of collected essays, ''

Naked Nudity is the state of being in which a human is without clothing. The loss of body hair was one of the physical characteristics that marked the biological evolution of modern humans from their hominin ancestors. Adaptations related to h ...

''. It marks the first time one of Sedaris's stories was adapted for film. It co-stars

Denis O'Hare Denis Patrick Seamus O'Hare (born January 17, 1962) is an American actor, singer, and author noted for his award-winning performances in the plays '' Take Me Out'' and ''Sweet Charity'', as well as portraying vampire king Russell Edgington on HB ...

, Casey Wilson,

Dean Stockwell Robert Dean Stockwell (March 5, 1936 – November 7, 2021) was an American actor with a career spanning seven decades. As a child actor under contract to Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, he first came to the public's attention in films including ''Anchors A ...

Troian Bellisario Troian Avery Bellisario (born October 28, 1985) is an American actress. A graduate of the University of Southern California, in 2010, she received her breakthrough role as Spencer Hastings in the Freeform drama series ''Pretty Little Liars'' ( ...

, and

Corey Stoll Corey Stoll (born March 14, 1976) is an American actor. He is best known for his roles as Congressman Peter Russo on the Netflix political thriller series ''House of Cards'' (2013–2016), for which he received a Golden Globe nomination in 2013 ...

Plot

Based on

' autobiographical short story, C.O.G. (which stands for Child of God) follows Samuel (

), who attempts to immerse himself in "the real world," and go "off the grid" following his graduation from Yale to work at an apple farm under an alias. Out of his element and failing to fit in amongst the town's migrant workers and deeply religious locals, Samuel begins a journey that will take him deep into unfamiliar, awkward, and sometimes humorous territory as he encounters would-be benefactors and friends alike.

Cast

as David (who tells some people his name is Samuel), the character is loosely based on

as a young man when he traveled to Oregon and took on the occupation of an apple picker. *

as Jon, a deeply religious, recovering alcoholic who takes David (Samuel) under his wing making Oregon-shaped clocks * Casey Wilson as Martha, a kind-hearted young mother and devoted Christian who allows David (Samuel) to stay in her home. *

as Hobbs, an old farm owner who hires David (Samuel) and gets him a job in the factory. *

Dale Dickey Diana Dale Dickey (born September 29, 1961) is an American character actress who has worked in theater, film, and television. She began her career on stage, performing in the 1989 Broadway version of ''The Merchant of Venice'', before appearing ...

as Debbie, David's (Samuel's) foul-mouthed assembly line co-worker in the apple factory. *

as Jennifer, David's (Samuel's) friend who unexpectedly bails on him early on. *

as Curly, the friendly forklift operator at the apple factory. Curly takes a flirtatious interest in David (Samuel) that turns darker as the film progresses.

Reception

The film received mostly positive reactions.

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...

gives the film a score of 69% based on reviews from 36 critics, and a rating average of 6.5 out of 10. The site's critical consensus reads, "C.O.G.'s plot is a bit meandering, but the characters are always compelling and the ending is richly rewarding." Reviews stated that director-screenwriter Kyle Patrick Alvarez adapted the

story to film well, noting the performances of lead Groff, Stoll, O'Hare, Dickey, and particularly Wilson in a dramatic role.

Filming

''C.O.G.'' was filmed on location in

Forest Grove, Oregon Forest Grove is a city in Washington County, Oregon, United States, west of Portland. Originally a small farm town, it is now primarily a commuter town in the Portland metro area. Settled in the 1840s, the town was platted in 1850, then incorpor ...

in October 2012.

Release

The film premiered at the Sundance Film Festival on January 20, 2013, where its distribution rights were bought by Focus Features and it was nominated for the Grand Jury Prize in the festival's U.S. Dramatic Competition. It has since premiered at the

Seattle International Film Festival The Seattle International Film Festival (SIFF), held annually in Seattle, Washington since 1976, is among the top film festivals in North America. Audiences have grown steadily; the 2006 festival had 160,000 attendees. The SIFF runs for more th ...

, where it won the "Best New American Cinema" award. The film also opened the 2013 Outfest Film Festival on July 10, 2013. The film was released on VOD and in theaters on September 20, 2013.

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:C.O.G. 2013 comedy-drama films 2013 films American comedy-drama films American LGBT-related films American independent films Films based on short fiction Films directed by Kyle Patrick Alvarez Films set in Portland, Oregon Films shot in Oregon Gay-related films 2013 independent films LGBT-related black comedy films LGBT-related comedy-drama films Films critical of religion 2010s English-language films 2010s American films English-language comedy-drama films