Love, Simon

This is one of those films you can thoroughly enjoy if you don’t get too cerebral about it. It’s sweet, it’s safe, it’s highly contrived with loads of familiar tropes. It’s a refreshingly mainstream gay themed rom-com, devoid of sinister undertones or socio-political subtext.

Simon Spier (Nick Robinson) is a good-looking 17 year old with a precocious younger sister, two happily married parents, a great group of friends and a dark secret that one of his not-so-great friends is threatening to expose: Simon is gay.

The plot unfurls in two strands – Simon’s questionable actions to keep from being outed (basically by throwing his friends under the bus) and his quest to find an anonymous gay student with whom he has developed an email relationship.

The whole movie has the pace and depth of a sitcom with some genuinely funny one-liners and enough universal appeal to make everyone under the rainbow happy.

★★★

Reviewed by Rita Bratovich