Love, Simon: Movie Review

From the novel, Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda, by Becky Albertalli, the film misleads its audience. Though it has its fair share of love and romance, its film title leans too much on the fact. Love, Simon’s narrative stems more as a coming-of-age story through its homosexual title character. It depicts homosexuality through more contemporary themes that stand out from other films of its kind, gives a chance for growth and discovery that lends itself well to its genre, and grounds it all with Nick Robinson’s great performance as a high school kid who just wants nothing more than to fit in.

The film follows Simon Spier (Nick Robinson) realizing his attractive towards the same sex and struggling to understand how this newfound identity means to him and all those close to him. He finds some peace as the anonymous blogger Blue speaks about a similar problem on coming out in the school blog. Leading Simon to secretly converse with Blue through emails as they both try to figure out how to handle their dilemma. Simon sparks a romance with Blue as he attempts to figure out Blue’s true identity while trying to deal with his continued secrecy to his friends and family.

The narrative never truly focuses on its romance as it explores more on the nature of homosexuality in a heteronormative world. Dwelling on its nature differently than other films that focus on a world that still doesn’t fully accept them, the film builds more on one’s own acceptance of being gay. Nick Robinson’s performance sells the dilemma as Simon’s continued reluctance couldn’t be a good sign for him or anyone around him.

 

Simon’s battle with himself never feels stupid and forced. It streamlines itself through a character not unlike any of us would have gone through. The film builds around Simon’s continued repression to speak out and making sure that every time he feels awkward, the audience will feel with him. When he tries to awkwardly flirt with a cute guy across the street, the film makes sure you will too. Seeing through Simon’s lens then gives that tremendous sadness when his friends cannot even realize that he is having trouble within him. A troubling sign that only leads Simon to desperation and leave him more broken than he already is. This repression could not only lead him to a path he might not be able to go back but also destroy every relationship he has built with the people around him. Simon must ultimately figure out how to deal with this to grow and find the strength to pursue what he truly is meant to be.

Love, Simon is arguably one of this year’s most groundable and relatable films. Not only does it show the inner struggles of its gay protagonist, but it is able to understand the struggles of growing up. We might not be to understand Simon’s struggle of coming out as gay, but we all struggle to find our place in the world. We are all afraid that the world won’t accept our change. Love, Simon sees the fear of the unknown, pushes you to go beyond, and hopefully be a better person in the process. If this doesn’t make a great film, then what does?