Love, Simon is now available to stream, rent or buy.
Very few modern LGBTQ+ teen dramas have had the cultural impact of Love, Simon, and due to this, Love, Simon has rightly earned its place in the LGBTQ+ hall of fame. Based on the best-selling novel Simon vs the Homo Sapiens Agenda written by Becky Albertalli, Gregg Berlanti’s 2018 film closely sticks to the style and vision of the book while updating the narrative.
In its style and humour, Love, Simon fully embraces the late, great John Hughes in reflecting teenage life through a lens of comedy, music, drama and romance. Here Love, Simon’s upbeat tempo echoes a series of 80s classics from Ferris Bueller to Sixteen Candles. However, unlike the casual homophobia found in many 80s teen flicks, Love, Simon is out and proud, redefining the teen rom-com for a whole new generation.
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Simon (Nick Robinson) is an average student with a lovely house, supportive parents and a cooking obsessed younger sister. His close friends, Leah (Katherine Langford), Nick (Jorge Lendeborg Jr.) and Abby (Alexandra Shipp), offer love, companionship, laughter and support while his school and social life are active, creative and busy. However, underneath all this, Simon has one big secret, he is gay.
Deep down, Simon knows his friends and family would accept his secret, but he also knows that speaking it aloud may change everything, and he isn’t quite ready for that yet. Plus, Simon can’t help but question why anyone should have to come out or why “straight is the default.” But, when a fellow student anonymously writes a post on the college blog expressing his fear of coming out, Simon responds privately to the email using the alias ‘Jacques’. Before long, both boys strike up a secret online friendship, as Simon wonders who the mysterious boy named ‘Blue’ really is. Is he one of his friends? A member of his drama group? Or someone he is yet to meet?
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Long before Albertalli’s book was translated into a screen gem, Simon’s journey resonated with a whole generation of young adult readers as Albertalli ceased upon and reflected the changing landscape of coming out for the internet generation. Here the open world of the net dovetailed with increased fears of bullying and blackmail for so many LGBTQ+ kids. It is within these themes of freedom, choice, public and private that Love, Simon excels.
However, maybe the greatest achievement of Love, Simon sits within its ability to bring gay romantic comedy to a younger audience. Here, its 12A certificate was groundbreaking in reaching a broad and diverse audience of young people and families, making it a studio-backed game-changer in LGBTQ+ cinema.
Director: Greg Berlanti
Cast: Nick Robinson, Jennifer Garner, Josh Duhamel, Katherine Langford, Keiynan Lonsdale, Jorge Lendeborg Jr., Alexandra Shipp
