by Colleen Yates ’18

“Love Simon” is a modern coming-of-age movie about a senior in high school dealing with telling the world he’s gay. The movie is very relatable to the average high schooler as Simon (Nick Robinson) and his friends go out for coffee before school, go to Halloween parties, homecoming games, and even joke around about Trump. “Love Simon” documents a love story between two closeted teenage boys as they anonymously open up to each other by writing emails back and forth. It is rare and refreshing to see a teen movie in which the students aren’t stressing about prom dresses and dates. “Love Simon” is also one of the first teen movies to accurately show teenagers interacting with today’s iPhones and social media, which added relatability for teens of today.

With a gossip girl touch, the students at Creekwood high school have a blog called “Creek Secrets” which causes drama throughout the film. The movie opens on Simon Spier, a teenage boy with a very average life. His life is then turned upside-down when someone anonymously posts on creek secrets that he was gay. Seeing this, Simon creates a new g-mail account and begins a secret relationship under the alias “Jaques” with a boy that refers to himself as “Blue”. Drama ensues when an annoying classmate, Martin (Logan Miller) discovers and screenshots Simon’s secret emails, which he accidentally left open in the school library. Martin then threatens to out Simon if he does not help him get a girl. This puts Simon into many situations that distance him from his friends.

The movie follows Simon as he attempts to find Blue whom he believes he is in love with. It also follows the relationship between Simon and his parents, who often struggle to talk to Simon. With the help and inspiration provided by Blue and a supportive group of friends and family members, Simon finds the courage to come out and works his way through many high school problems.

Grade: A