Prayers for Bobby

Prayers for Bobby centers on Mary Griffith, a devout Christian mother in Walnut Creek, California, whose eldest son, Bobby, is gay. Raised in a deeply religious household, Bobby keeps his feelings hidden for years before confiding in his brother and later telling his family. Mary, convinced that homosexuality is a sin, urges him to pray harder and seek guidance in the church, believing she can change him. Bobby tries to meet her expectations while growing increasingly isolated, and the strain between his faith, his family and himself sets up the film's central conflict.

The film is based on a true story, drawing on the book of the same name by Leroy Aarons, and moves from the family's life in the late 1970s and early 1980s toward Mary's painful reassessment of her beliefs and her gradual turn toward advocacy for gay rights. Sigourney Weaver plays Mary, with Henry Czerny as Robert Griffith, Ryan Kelley as Bobby, Austin Nichols as Ed, Carly Schroeder as Joy and Scott Bailey as David. Russell Mulcahy directed; it is the twelfth of fourteen films he directed, following The Scorpion King 2: Rise of a Warrior and preceding In Like Flynn.

Made for television in the United States, the drama runs 89 minutes. Its reception has been strong over time, with an 8 out of 10 rating on IMDb across roughly 19,000 votes and 8.1 out of 10 on TMDB from a smaller base of about 650 users, indicating a widely seen television film that continues to find audiences.