Love, Simon

Movie, 2018, PG-13

Premise - Not a single person in the world knows Simon Spier is gay, except for Simon himself. When another closeted gay student anonymously posts a coming out letter onto their high school blog, Simon strikes up a secret pen-pal relationship. Simon, who calls himself "Jacques," starts to fall in love with "Blue," though neither of them know their true identities.


Review - I was highly anticipating this film for a number of reasons. One, it's a teen romance based on a young adult novel, and I don't think I will ever outgrow my love for those, and two, it has a great reputation. My sister saw it and loved it, I see advertisements everywhere, and the original book the film is based on is dominating the shelves. There's a secret third reason, that's a little bit more quirky, but I swear I kept seeing this film pop up whenever I would search the Daniel Radcliffe tag on Tumblr and I had NO idea what the relation was. Spoiler alert - it's because Simon first realized he was gay during his Daniel Radcliffe phase in which he dreamed about him every night for a month. Relatable, Simon, relatable.

This film truly did not disappoint. I think what most impressed me is despite the simplicity of it, there's actually quite a convoluted plot. I loved seeing Simon's friend group spiral out of control because it's not just Simon with a secret - nobody can admit they like anybody. Dating within their small knit group of friends would ruin the group dynamic, and that felt both realistic and frustrating. There's not so much a love triangle as there is like.... a love star... or a love tangled mess. As for Simon's specific struggles, however, I admit to tearing up more than once. His coming out scenes to Abby, his sister, and his parents were so touching, as were the conversations he had with each of his parents individually afterwards. It was a lighthearted movie, but there was a healthy amount of raw emotion during those heavier moments and I loved it. (92/100)

UPDATE 9/28/19: Just read the book, loved it, rewatched the movie, and am now bumping this up to (94/100) to match my book rating.

Quote - "Sometimes I think I'm destined to care so much about one person that it nearly kills me."

What to watch for - There are two 13 Reasons Why alums in this film - Katherine Langford, who plays Leah, and Miles Heizer, who plays some piano player guy. Yay to see them!

If you liked this book, I'd recommend She's the Man!

Based on the book Simon vs. The Homo Sapiens Agenda by Becky Albertalli
Directed by Greg Berlanti
Distributed by 20th Century Fox