If you were to go off the poster and trailer for Love, Simon you would expect it to be just another stale, sappy teen movie to consign to the same bin as all the other YA adaptations that have been forgotten over the years. But this film, directed by Greg Berlanti and based off of the novel Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda (a much better title) by Becky Albertalli, knows it’s dealing with fairly new subject matter for a mainstream film, and approaches it with genuine interest and humour.
Simon Spier (Nick Robinson) is a closeted high school student who discovers via his school’s online forum the confession of another anonymous gay teenager. Reaching out under a pseudonym of his own, the two bond and Simon begins to fall for him. But when a classmate discovers their communications and blackmails Simon, he’s forced to meddle in the lives of his friends, while at the same time trying to figure out who his confidant is and when and how he should come out.
Despite the relationship between Simon and his online love interest being a major part of the story, Love, Simon isn’t really a romance as much as a teen drama. The central struggle is Simon’s coming out, which has never really been the subject of a major studio film before. And this movie takes advantage of that by really exploring the psychology and emotions a teenager would go through trying to figure out and accept their sexuality. It’s done in a remarkably mature way. There’s no cheap conflict inserted by making his parents strictly conservative or religious for example, or by suggesting he lives in a very homophobic environment. Generally, he knows most people in his life would accept him. It’s an entirely personal conflict, and insightful for those of us who’ve never had to go through it.
Robinson is fantastic, coming across as a very natural teenager going through a personal crisis. He’s playing a very likeable character too, who’s easy to empathize with. He does some bad things as he’s forced to, but you understand his reasons. His trio of friends played by Katherine Langford, Alexandra Shipp, and Jorge Lendeborg Jr. are really likeable, believable characters too. His parents are played by Jennifer Garner and Josh Duhamel, both of whom are fine, and Tony Hale has a minor role as the strange school principal. The only drawback in the cast is Logan Miller as Martin, the blackmailer; unfortunately he’s in the movie a lot and is utterly insufferable. Apart from being way too old to be playing a high schooler, Miller’s character is a monumentally irritating, insecure, selfish jerk and he plays the part way too well. I knew this guy in college, and it’s not a fun personality to be around. Every moment he’s on screen is agonizing. He got increasingly more grating as the film went on, even with an attempt to garner a shred of sympathy for him. It didn’t work. And ultimately, he alone is what keeps the movie from being great.
This film is very clearly inspired by teen movies of the 80s such as the John Hughes catalogue. Like some of those films, it handles its multiple plot-lines deftly and the performances are very natural to how teens in high school behave. But also, it too has a great sense of humour. The narration structure of the film, taken from Simon’s messages, acts as a good inlet to his mind -allowing us to see him picturing various classmates he suspects to be on the other end. But it also gives way to some funny wanderings of the mind and fantasies, such as what it would be like to be gay in college or if straight people had to come out of the closet too. He also has some very funny thoughts and remarks at the expense of awkward situations and characters. None of these are very big laughs, but they work to keep the film energized and upbeat. As to the comparisons to Hughes, I still think 2016’s Edge of Seventeen was closer at least in spirit due to its commitment to honest youth. Love, Simon isn’t unrealistic; the characters swear and make sexual references like real teenagers. But parts of the narrative and character actions just don’t quite ring true to life. There’s a very clear, basic moral to the story, a couple cartoonishly homophobic bullies, a somewhat clichéd breaking up, and an ending that’s perhaps a bit too saccharine.
But that ending is sweet and deserved, and it’s made clear in the script itself that Love, Simon just wants to give its gay protagonist the same kind of story straight people have gotten for decades. It’s a testament to the movie’s dedication, that it wound up being better than most of those comparable movies. And it’s definitely one every closeted teen should see.
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