I’m done living in a world where I don’t get to be who I am. I deserve a great love story, and I want someone to share it with.
Love, Simon is based on the bestselling young adult novel by Becky Albertalli known as Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda. Earlier this year, Love, Simon hit the world by storm because it is one of the first movies with a coming out story that is at the forefront of the movie. The new movie has helped many members of the LGBT+ community discover who they are and accept their own sexuality, which is exactly what teens needed nowadays.
The movie is set in a small conservative suburb of Atlanta, Georgia and the main character, Simon’s family is well-off and fairly sophisticated though they have no idea that Simon is hiding a huge secret. Simon is scared to come out as gay because he knows it will change everything and he doesn’t want to be alone as there is only one other out gay kid at his school.
Simon has a three close friends: childhood best friend Leah, Nick who is a soccer player and his only close guy friend, and the new girl Abby. For the most part, they are all very close, but there is a situation in the middle of the movie that made me question their relationship with Simon.
At his school, there is an online blog called “Creek Secrets”, where kids share secrets about other people that are usually not the nicest. Simon finds out that there is a closeted kid at school when this boy posts something on Creek Secrets and Simon starts to have an anonymous email conversation with him. Simon only knows him as Blue and is desperate to find out who he is. Simon’s life becomes even trickier when a drama-club member called Martin discovers Simon’s secret and threatens to expose Simon unless he helps him impress Abby (one of Simon’s best friends). Simon agrees, but also starts to try to figure out who he is communicating with. He has three suspects: the popular kid Bram, a Waffle House waiter named Lyle, or the pianist Cal.
The movie as a whole is a fun and emotional rollercoaster as we follow Simon trying to navigate waters as a gay teen in high school. Nick Robinson portrays Simon wonderfully as he showcases the emotions that Simon experiences throughout the movie. All the other cast members portray the characters from the book wonderfully as well. Greg Berlanti adapted the book wonderfully into this emotional film that shows a character trying to come to terms with his sexuality. He draws you in with hilarious humour and down to earth characters. Love, Simon understands teens and perfectly captures their lives, which I really enjoyed. If you haven’t seen Love, Simon yet, then do yourself a favour and watch it.
The films stars Nick Robinson (Jurassic World), Katherine Langford and Miles Heizer (13 Reasons Why), Jennifer Garner (Dallas Buyers Club), Josh Duhamel (Safe Haven), Colton Haynes (Arrow) Alexandra Shipp (X-Men: Apocalypse), Logan Miller (A Dog’s Purpose) and Mackenzie Lintz (Under The Dome).
Written by Isaac Aptaker & Elizabeth Berger (This is Us), the film is directed by Greg Berlanti (Riverdale, Arrow) who is openly gay so he will most definitely be true to the story and emotions surrounding it.
