Jeremiah Terminator LeRoy (2018)

A young woman named Savannah Knoop spends six years pretending to be the celebrated author JT LeRoy, the made-up literary persona of her sister-in-law.

Director:

Justin Kelly

Writers:

Justin Kelly, Savannah Knoop (memoir)

Stars:

Kristen Stewart, Laura Dern, Diane Kruger

Cast

Credited cast:
Kristen Stewart	...	Savannah Knoop
Laura Dern	...	Laura Albert
Diane Kruger	...	Eva
Jim Sturgess	...	Geoffrey Knoop
Courtney Love	...	Sasha
Stella Maxwell	...	Sophie
Kelvin Harrison Jr.	...	Sean
James Jagger
Arden Alfonso	...	Waitress
Steve Pacaud	...	Geoffreys Bar Friend
David Lawrence Brown	...	Bruce
Jaydee-Lynn McDougall	...	Party Girl
Alicia Johnston	...	Isabelle
Andres Collantes	...	Party Goer #2
Will Woytowich	...	Cassian

Storyline

A young woman named Savannah Knoop spends six years pretending to be the celebrated author JT LeRoy, the made-up literary persona of her sister-in-law.

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Genres:

Biography | Drama

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Certificate:

R

Details

Country:

UK Canada USA

Language:

English French

Release Date:

2018 (USA)

Also Known As:

JT Leroy

Filming Locations:

Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada

Company Credits

Production Co:

Black Leather Jacket,Buffalo Gal Pictures,Crosby Street Films

Technical Specs

Runtime:

108 min

Color:

Color

Did You Know?

Trivia

Filming primarily took place in Winnipeg, but also at the 2017 Cannes International Film Festival.

User Reviews

A Real-life Avatar

"The truth," said Oscar Wilde "is rarely pure and never simple." This is the case in the true story and stranger than fiction tale of Savannah, a real life avatar for the fictional author JT LeRoy. When JT writes a best seller about his life as a gender mysterious truck stop sex worker, there is intense pressure for the author to reveal himself. Savannah (Kristen Stewart) is convinced by her sister-in-law, the real author, to pose as JT. Savannah does this well, in fact too well. She plays JT for years, falls in love as JT, and the story gets to the Cannes film festival before Savannah is outed as a fraud. But JT is loved for giving people the freedom to be whoever they want and to explore the darker regions of the human experience, and such will never die. Sometimes lies are truer than the truth.

JT LeRoy is fascinating and relevant because everyone, to one extent or another, wears masks and no one is really who they say they are. The film explores how something like JT could happen, primarily with regard to Savannah, and the ramifications for the people involved. Stewart does a wonderful job in the role. Surprisingly, 90% of the film was shot in Winnipeg. Savannah and Justin Kelly attended the same Toronto international film festival showing that I did.