It 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, Amber Benson and Jacqueline Bisset have supporting roles.
Latter Days premiered at the Philadelphia International Gay & Lesbian Film Festival on July 10, 2003. It was released across the United States over the next 12 months, and was released, mostly at gay film festivals, in a few other countries. It was the first film to portray openly the clash between the principles of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and homosexuality, and its exhibition in some U.S. states was controversial. Various religious groups demanded that the film be withdrawn from theatres and DVD stores under boycott threats.
The film was met with mixed reactions from film critics, but was popular with most film festival attendees. In 2004, freelance writer T. Fabris made Latter Days into a novel, which was published by Alyson Publications.
Latter Days premiered at the Philadelphia International Gay and Lesbian Film Festival on July 10, 2003. The audience enjoyed the film so much that they gave it a standing ovation. When the cast came on stage, they received another standing ovation. The film had a similar reception both at Outfest a week later, and at the Palm Springs International Film Festival. One person who attended Outfest commented, "It was so realistic that it was scary.
I felt exposed as the particulars of my experience and of others I know was brazenly spread across the big screen for all to behold." The film also aired at Seattle and Washington film festivals, before being released across the United States over the next 12 months.
The film was released in few other countries, mostly at gay film festivals,as the ones in Barcelona and Madrid (where it was also a popular pick) and Mexico City.In 2005 it had already received nine best film awards.
The film was banned by Madstone Theaters, a cinema arthouse with nine theaters across the country, which claimed it was "not up to our artistic quality." The company was pressured with threatened boycotts and protests by conservative groups to withdraw their planned release. At the North American box office, Latter Days made $834,685 from a maximum of 19 theaters. Critical reviews have also been mixed: one wrote, "Cox's screenplay, while occasionally lapsing into the sort of clichés endemic to so many gay-themed films, generally treats its unusual subject matter with dignity and complexity." Film critic Roger Ebert gave it two and a half stars out of four, writing "the movie could have been (a) a gay love story, or (b) an attack on the Mormon Church, but is an awkward fit by trying to be (c) both at the same time."
There have been positive reviews as well, with one critic saying Latter Days was "the most important gay male movie of the past few years." The Los Angeles Times was also positive, saying, "at once romantic, earthy and socially critical, 'Latter Days' is a dynamic film filled with humor and pathos."The movie review website Rotten Tomatoes reported that 45% of critics gave the film positive write-ups, based upon a sample of 44, with an average score of 5.4/10. As of October 2009, the film is the top grossing film from its studio TLA Releasing.