LOVE, SIMON REVIEW

*MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS*

Last month, I saw Love, Simon at a preview screening and I was pleasantly surprised. I wasn’t planning on seeing it as it didn’t interest me as it was mainly targeted at teenagers and young adults.  However, Love, Simon proved to be better than what I thought it would be.
Everyone deserves a great love story. But for seventeen-year old Simon Spier (Nick Robinson) it's a little more complicated: he's yet to tell his family or friends that he's gay and he doesn't actually know the identity of the anonymous classmate he's fallen for online, who uses the name 'Blue'. Resolving both issues proves hilarious, terrifying and life-changing. Directed by Greg Berlanti, written by Isaac Aptaker & Elizabeth Berger and based on Becky Albertalli's acclaimed novel, Love, Simon is a funny and heartfelt coming-of-age story about the thrilling ride of finding yourself and falling in love.
I think that Love, Simon will appeal more to young adults and teenagers, especially those who are homosexual and are struggling to reveal their true identity to close friends and families. People in the LGBT community will definitely be able to relate to Simon and his situation. In the beginning, he can’t even say the words ‘I’m gay’, however, as the film progresses, he becomes more accepting of himself. The story focuses on Simon and his attempts to try and find out who the mysterious Blue is, the person he’s been sending emails to. Throughout the film, both Simon and the audience are guessing who Blue is, however, it isn’t revealed until towards the end of the film. I was surprised at this revelation and I enjoyed the film more because it was unpredictable at times and escaped the cliches that most romantic comedy/dramas have. There have been a lot (some might say too many) of romantic comedies, known as 'romcoms', that focus on heterosexual relationships and, while some of them can be funny, they're still predictable and full of cliches. Love, Simon is more enjoyable as it feels different to other similar films. The characters, especially Simon, all feel genuine and like real people that viewers will definitely be able to relate to.
Love, Simon features a bright cast of youngsters. Some may recognise Nick Robinson from Jurassic World, which was released in 2015, or the 2013 comedy/drama, The Kings Of Summer. However, as Simon, he gives his most impressive performance yet and proves he can handle a leading role. He understands what Simon is going through and makes him a likable main character. The supporting cast includes Katherine Langford, who is best known for appearing in the Netflix series, 13 Reasons Why, and gave a deeply moving performance as Hannah. In Love, Simon, she gives a solid supporting role as Simon's friend, Leah, however, she, too, has a secret. She has crush on one of her friends and can't bring herself to tell them. Alexandra Shipp is best known to superhero fans for portraying the younger version of Storm in X-Men Apocalypse, which was released back in 2016, and, as Abby, she gives another good performance. As Simon's parents, Jennifer Garner and Josh Duhamel are convincing and share chemistry. Duhamel has an impressive scene that shows off his dramatic skills when he and Simon have a heart-to-heart. Overall, there's not a bad performance to be found.
I can understand why people may be a bit skeptical about Love, Simon but it’s important to those in the LGBT community. I saw this at a ‘Secret Screening’ at my local cinema which meant that no one knew what the film was going to be. Although this didn’t happen at my cinema, I heard that several people walked out at other preview screenings of Love, Simon. Now, I don’t know why they walked out, but I have since seen homophobic comments and it further proves why we need films like Love, Simon and the Oscar-nominated Call Me By Your Name that focus on homosexual relationships as they promote acceptance and the fact that love is love, no matter what. I do hope that, after the release of Love, Simon, people won't be afraid of coming out and that there will be more acceptance towards homosexual relationships.
Despite only just being released in the UK, Love, Simon has already proven to be highly successful, both in terms of critic reviews (it currently has a 92% on Rotten Tomatoes) and audience reception. On Twitter, those in the LGBT community have changed their names to 'Love, [name]' as a way of coming out. A lot of people are also bravely coming out to their parents and family members by taking them to see Love, Simon. It's certainly made a lasting impression.
If you’re a bit skeptical about seeing Love, Simon, don’t be. Since its release in the US last month, it's received a lot of praise from both critics and viewers who are part of the LGBT community as they were able to relate to Simon. However, those outside of the LGBT community will be able to enjoy it as it's thoroughly entertaining and features a lot of humour. Love, Simon is one of those films where its intentions are simply to entertain and tell a story about love between two people and promote acceptance. And with that, I think it has succeeded.
7/10