Film review: Love, Simon (2018)

Not my kind of film, I know, but this was a Cineworld Secret Screening. All you do is book tickets to the single showing of the mystery film, turn up, and be surprised. In the past it’s been new indie releases, festival winners, that kind of thing. We literally did just hope for the best.

Which is amusing, because that’s what this film does. A quiet, very caring-about-not-caring affair, Love, Simon charts a high school year in the life of the titular young lad, who has understood that he’s gay for a while but has never told a living (or dead) soul. He’s got a pretty ok life - nice parents (one of which is a very liberal, very championing therapist), nice friends (a very close best friend who’s awesome, by the way), and even cool teachers. Ok, so the deputy head isn’t that cool, but he is underneath it all a nice person. And the drama teacher is EXCELLENT. Then one day someone posts on the school intranet news feed that they’re secretly gay.

It sparks an instant wave of curiosity and gossip. Purr wee Simon’s ears prick up as he’s scared shitless by the thought that someone may have worked something out about him. However, when he sees the post he finds out it’s written by the other student - and also that they feel so alone. He makes up a new, untraceable Gmail account and writes back to them.

Over the next few months they talk a lot, start to rely on each other, confess that they’ve been inspired by each other - but they never reveal identities. Through no fault of his own, Simon’s emails are discovered by a classmate who then proceeds to blackmail Simon for his help in winning the heart of a student he’s fallen in love with.

Cue Simon trying to set his friend up with the love of his life, assumptions, misinterpretations, some very good ‘what if it’s that student over there? ’ daydreaming sequences, some expected family drama and a happy ending. Of course that’s what they’re going to write - this will not be a true-to-life story of the young people who are not accepted by their family or their friends, who end up on the streets or worse. This is Hollywood’s first foray into trying to wring money from their gay friends - they even cast people of colour and differing faiths in this to really pull out all the stops. That being said, it’s not bad for a first mainstream start. This may be when Hollywood realises it can make movies directed at a silent percentage of the audience and rake in the cash anyway.

On the whole it’s a nice, harmless movie that’s not your average high school drama and actually has a lot of personality and charm to it - shout-out to Nick Robinson (no, not a Neighbours character) for a good job as Simon, and the rest of the cast (including Josh Duhamel) for giving it all they've got.

As with Hidden Figures last year, I felt this didn’t go deep enough into the inequities faced by the main characters in actual society, but then again this could well be a quiet, happy film designed to pave the way for more hard-hitting or more realistic movies later on.

Verdict: 8/10; fun, funny, great characters and good dialogue. In the same vein as Wonder Woman or Black Panther, this was attempting to reach out to an oft-overlooked audience, and while the rest of us found it polite fun or meaningful drama, I know there will be people who watch this and realise a turning point in their lives, or identify strongly with the themes that were uncovered. A quiet, humour-filled and gentle movie, yes. But no less important for it.

That’s all till the next film. It’s supposed to be a comedy - possibly involving murder - so I can't wait.

Soopytwist, everyone.