A couple of weeks ago I was scrolling through Twitter when I came across a promoted trailer for the movie Love, Simon (2018) which came out on Friday, March 16th. I remember clicking on it and watching the clip, because I hadn’t heard of the movie before.
My little sister and I decided on a whim to go watch the movie at 9:30 PM on opening day, and when I left the theater two hours later, I could not stop talking about the movie.
If you don’t want to watch the trailer, here’s a summary of the film: Love, Simon is a coming-of-age modern day movie about a high schooler named Simon Spier, who is gay but not out of the closet. Simon has known he’s gay for a while, but has been terrified of coming out to his family and friends because he knows people will treat him differently once he lets them know. Simon emphasizes this point clearly in the movie: he does not want his life to change, because his life is pretty close to perfect.
The movie kicks off when Simon begins corresponding through email with another guy at his high school who is also closeted. The second boy had written an anonymous post on the high school’s blog page saying how “nobody knows I’m gay”, and it inspired Simon to contact him using the email address the boy posted. The two begin emailing back and forth for a few months, neither knowing who the other is. Simon signs his name in the emails as “Jacques”, while the other boy signs his name as “Blue.”
I think the aspect of the movie that I found the most fascinating was watching Simon’s correspondence with Blue, and seeing him slowly fall in love with him just through their emails. Their interaction through technology accurately reflects how many relationships begin in today’s world, and I thought it was astounding to see how easily Simon opened up to Blue from the moment he realized there was another boy in his school who was going through the same problem as him.
Although I don’t have any personal connection or experience to this, I can imagine that for audience members who have also struggled to come out to their families and friends, this movie could have been inspiring and relatable. In the movie, the audience can clearly see how much Simon struggles to work up the courage to tell those close to him that he’s gay, even though he’s aware that they would be okay with it.
Aside from the movie’s focus on accepting your sexual orientation, Love, Simon includes an amazing variety of other qualities that make it stand out as a film. First, the cast is diverse, which is nice to see since, generally speaking, Hollywood films tend to have casts of only one race. By having a variety of races and ethnicities in the movie, it shows that having friends from different backgrounds is a positive thing!
Second, the friendships between the main characters are all so realistic. They all have deep, individual personalities that are also shown clearly through their interactions with one another. As you watch the movie and listen to the dialogue, it’s easy to see how deeply the four best friends care about one another. However, they also have bad moments where they fight and can’t stand to be near one another, which I think is reflective of how high school friendships work. I wouldn’t find their friendship as convincing if the four of them got along perfectly throughout the duration of the film.
Well, I don’t want to give away too many details! But please go see Love, Simon, it’s a truly beautiful, inspiring, and heartwarming story. But if you don’t want to take my word for it; check out online reviews! Rotten Tomatoes Critics have rated it 92% so far, and the same score was given by audience members!
Here are some of the comments critics are leaving regarding Love, Simon:
“Love, Simon is a charming and affecting movie that has one foot planted firmly in the past while pushing this genre into the new millenium.” – Juanma Fernández París, Entertainment Affair
“Love, Simon is filled with humor-in its characters, dialogue, and situations-but it doesn’t sacrifice emotional depth. The two work in tandem.” – Sheila O’Malley, RogerEbert.com
“Sweetly sincere and sensitive, it’s a timely, yet different coming-of-age story.” – Susan Granger, SSG Syndicate
“Every kid out there can determine whether or not they need this film, but each of them absolutely deserves a confection this sweet, thoughtful, and sincere.” – Allison Shoemaker, Consequence of Sound
“As the romantic mystery develops, the light comedy keeps us amused.” – Richard Roeper, Chicago Sun Times
If you don’t have any plans for this weekend, you do now! Go buy those tickets and enjoy watching Love, Simon!
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