As his profile at school evolves, he’s mocked for being gay by the jocks, but elsewhere his search for a boyfriend is met with a zealous encouragement that saps the movie’s tension. Simon is a drama club member, yet he looks incomplete without a lacrosse stick in hand. But neither he nor his email pen pal are out, and both struggle to articulate what seems to Simon–in spite of endless social advantages and a nurturing, liberal-minded family–impossible to say out loud.Īs Simon, Robinson is both effortlessly charming and brusquely masculine in the way of teenage boys. In the film, Simon (Nick Robinson), a high school senior, enters into an anonymous online romance with a classmate. The new movie Love, Simon represents something new: a look at what it’s like to be a gay teen that’s as slick and mainstream as can be, like any other YA romantic comedy. Sure, there might be some teens seeking out Call Me by Your Name, but they’re hardly the traditional target for art-house cinema. But those films are all squarely aimed at adults.
