In 2017, he starred in Alex & Andrew Smith's drama "Walking Out", as an estranged father to a 14-year-old son (played by Josh Wiggins). He said that he related to the character "in a really profound way.” "Walking Out" was screened in the U.S. Dramatic Competition section of the 2017 Sundance Film Festival and was released on October 6, 2017. Justin Chang of "Los Angeles Times" noted that he "steps confidently into the boots of a rugged, know-it-all mountain man whose idea of tough love can turn unexpectedly toward tenderness around a flickering campfire." David Ehrlich of "IndieWire" stated that Bomer fortunately plays against his "pretty boy type so convincingly that you might forget where you’ve even seen him before", concluding that Bomer "gives a commanding performance in a movie that fails to realize how evocative he is, the Smiths defaulting to flashbacks that show us less about cowboys and gender codes than we can glean from the wild look in its lead actor’s face. "The Village Voice" included his performance in the film in a list of the 17 Most Overlooked Performances of 2017.