How do you turn a relevant and controversial issue into a fresh and exciting movie that entertains people? Love, Simon does just that! This romantic comedy is told from the perspective of a young, high school boy coming out as gay to his community. Simon, the protagonist of the story, lives with a supportive family in a suburban neighborhood, where he attends the local high school. He has a group of great friends who he spends most of his time with.

It is almost inconceivable to think that this is one of the first feature films to spotlight a LGBTQ individual, especially since LGBTQ rights have been an extremely relevant political topic. Regardless, the storyline is relatable and interesting to many in the audience. Simon added the fresh and modern twist that was exactly what the story needed.   

The movie as a whole was entertaining, and it included all of the necessary aspects a romance comedy should have. Each of the characters in Simon’s friend group has multiple love interests, which aides the movie in introducing both drama and mystery into the storyline. Due to Simon hiding his sexuality from his friend group, his friends get mixed up while trying to find the girl who Simon likes. Although these miscommunications from Simon are not intended to hurt anyone and are only meant to keep his sexuality a secret, his friends become angry at him when he comes out.

The mystery aspect of the movie is introduced when Simon sees a post on social media of someone else at his school anonymously coming out as gay. Simon decides to email this person and explain to him his own issues of coming out, and living with his sexuality as a secret. He does this under a fake email address in hopes of keeping his identity a secret. This begins the online and romantic connection between the two. Throughout the film, Simon guesses based on actions from the people around him who his anonymous online pen pal is. This person’s pen name is Blue, and a significant part of the film is spent on fantasies Simon has of different people Blue could be characterized as. Eventually, Martin, another student, accidentally finds Simon’s emails and prints them out. Martin blackmails Simon, and Martin makes Simon introduce him to the girl Martin likes, who also happens to be a member of Simon’s close-knit group of friends. This links to the drama in the film mentioned above and makes the film even more exciting for the audience.

All in all, this movie deserves 4.5 stars out of 5. The cast does a fantastic job of bringing this story to life. The plot was fresh, yet nostalgic at the same time, which is an especially hard thing for films to achieve. It captures real life struggling moments from a realistic and not overdone view, making it all the more necessary to watch. This movie is a quintessential part of adolescent culture today, and it is a total must see for both teens and adults looking for an entertaining and meaningful take on LGBTQ issues.