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‘Love, Simon’ review: ‘The heartwarming gay romance we’ve been waiting for’

The battle for big screen representation has never felt this uplifting.

By Will Stroude

For those of us at least twice the age of its teen protagonist, there’s a bittersweet thrill to watching Greg Berlanti’s winning, puppy-eyed gay romcom Love, Simon.

With a story about a closeted, clean-cut schoolboy (the adorable Nick Robinson) coming to terms with his sexuality through anonymous emails with another secretive classmate — think a post-millennial You’ve Got Mail — it’s a
film we could only dream of seeing in mainstream cinemas when we were Simon’s age. But be glad it’s here now to make some confused adolescents out there feel a little less lonely.

This isn’t the edgiest gay love story you’ll ever see, but that’s the point: the battle for representation on screen has been long and hard, and we’ve earned a dose of simple, sweet, boy-meets-boy comfort viewing.

Rating: 4/5

Love, Simon is in cinemas now.

Words: Guy Lodge