“Why is straight the default?”

Love, Simon is directed by Greg Berlanti. This coming-of-age movie tells the story of Simon who is struggling being in the closet and hiding his true self from his friends and from the world. It stars Nick Robinson, Katherine Langford, Alexandra Shipp, Jorge Lendeborg Jr., Keiynan Lonsdale, Josh Duhamel and Jennifer Garner. This movie is based on the novel “Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda” which was written by Becky Albertalli.

This movie had a lot to do. It is a mainstream movie by a major company and it’s about coming out. It’s a big deal and for the movie to be this good, it’s wonderful to see. It’s also a mainstream movie with a member of the LGBTQ+ community as a main character, that in it’s self is a major step. To see a movie like this is a grand step towards Hollywood normalizing the LGBTQ+ community in movies and TV. This movie means a lot to certain people, people who haven’t come out or that did come out but remember the struggles. This is progress happening in Hollywood.

Love, Simon is an amazing movie, one which I will watch a lot of times. It’s realistic in the sense that anyone can relate to Simon. I related to him in so much, the movie paid so much attention to the little details that anyone can relate to. People love characters that they can relate to and Simon is definitely one of them. This movie also has some great humor thrown in there but it’s never overplayed also this is one of the more quotable movies in recent memory for example there’s a line which is repeated several times it’s: “I deserve a goddamn superhero!” and I can easily see that becoming really popular for some reason.

For being a teen romance movie, it’s actually a really smart movie. They introduce some mystery in the movie and it is done really well. It provides for some really great storytelling. This movie is also unapologetically and ridiculously heartwarming. The ending made me smile from ear to ear. Although it’s heartwarming, Love, Simon never shies away from the struggles and the nasty things a story like this would include. It tugs at your heartstrings quite a bit but it’s never cheap, the emotion is real and raw, it’s quite the tear jerker.

Nick Robinson nails the role of Simon, I can’t imagine someone else playing that role. It’s career changing, he is brilliant in it. He makes Simon such a realistic character, he does small things which everyone usually does like stare too long at someone attractive. He masters emotion. There is a scene in particular when Simon has a conversation with his mothers towards the end and it’s one of the more emotional scenes and he and Garner come off so real and raw that it’s like you’re eavesdropping on them. I’ve seen the scene twice now and the dialogue never failed to make me cry, it’s incredibly beautiful.

Shipp, Langford and Lendeborg Jr are great as the quirky friends. Shipp is really full of personality. Duhamel and Garner deliver great performances as the parents. Also for a movie that’s nearly two hours, it never feels long or stretched out.  The music in this movie is also really great, some really good choices on there. Also this movie has an incredible script. There are so many great lines, two of my favorite come from Simon’s mom in the scene I mentioned earlier:

“these last few years, it’s like I can feel you holding your breath”

“you get to exhale now Simon”

The only negative I have is the antagonist who I won’t say who it is but he felt a bit odd, his character didn’t blend in to the movie, he felt like a bully from a teen sitcom, he’s not dealt with realistically in terms of character development and he is in the movie for quite a while and at one point the movie sort of tries to make you pity him which completely fails.

In the end Love, Simon is a fantastic movie which anyone can enjoy not just members of the LGBTQ+ community. It’s like a modern John Hughes movie. The script and the acting are two of the movie’s highest strengths and it’s emotionally rich. It is an important movie which hopefully a lot of movie-goers and critics will watch. It is out on digital now so drop what you’re doing and go watch this undeniably charming movie.

RATING: A