Film

Alex Strangelove

Name: Alex Strangelove
Genre: Comedy, Drama
Released: 2018
Cast: Daniel Doheny, Madeline Weinstein, Antonio Marziale, Daniel Zolghadri, Fred Hechinger

Comedy

A teenage romantic comedy about self-discovery that treats sexual confusion with genuine warmth rather than crisis. Alex thinks he wants one thing until a chance encounter suggests something else entirely. It's funny, unpretentious, and interested in how attraction works when you're still figuring yourself out—less *Moonlight*, more your best friend's story at lunch.

TMDb rating

3.3

Should you watch it?

Watch it if you enjoy a sweet, cheeky coming-of-age story that finds its laughs in earnest, overeager teenagers and lets its heart show without making a fuss.

Skip it if you need a tight, plot-driven farce, since this one drifts through its party scenes and set pieces at a loose, hangout pace.

What it asks of you: It runs about an hour and forty minutes and asks you to settle into a lot of cheerful, low-stakes chatter, happily talking in circles more than it moves.

Not sure? Find tonight's pick in a minute.

If you liked this

Love, Simon2018

Shares the same gentle, funny tone about a teen realizing his sexuality, with sharp supporting characters and a script that never punches down. Both celebrate self-discovery as something joyful rather than tragic.

But The formula is comforting but familiar: misunderstanding, secret revealed, everyone learns. If you want plot surprises, look elsewhere.

The Half of It2020

A thoughtful comedy about attraction, identity, and what we want versus what we think we should want. Like Alex Strangelove, it earns its emotional moments through genuine character work and doesn't rush its conclusions.

But It's more meditative than laugh-out-loud funny. The pacing is deliberate, which some find contemplative and others find slow.

Heartstopper2022

A TV series that captures the same warmth and sincerity about young people figuring out their sexuality. It's funny without being cynical, and genuinely celebrates its characters' joy rather than just their confusion.

But The sweetness is relentless. If you need edge or moral complexity, this isn't it—it's almost aggressively kind.

Not sure tonight? Get a pick in a minute, starting from Alex Strangelove

The wildcard

Something you would not have found on your own.

Moonlight2016

Both follow a young man's coming-of-age around sexual identity, but Moonlight abandons comedy entirely to ask: what if we treated this with the seriousness of a prayer?

Where Alex Strangelove is comedy and lightness, Moonlight is poetry and silence—but it's telling the same essential story of a young man discovering his sexuality. Both are ultimately tender and accepting, just in completely different registers.

But It's dense, meditative, and very formally ambitious. If you want plot momentum or clear narrative beats, this will frustrate you. Requires patience and emotional attunement.

10 Things I Hate About You1999

A high school comedy that proves the formula still works: mismatched teens, loyal friends providing chaos, genuine warmth underneath the jokes. Different setting, same heart and humor.

But It's 1990s earnestness in a 1990s package. Some jokes land dated; the gender politics are pre-smartphone.

Clueless1995

Teen comedy with real affection for its characters and genuine intelligence about how they navigate attraction and belonging. The humor is clever without being mean, and the emotional stakes feel earned.

But It's deeply of its era in ways that can feel quaint. The fashion can be distracting if you're not into that world.

The Perks of Being a Wallflower2012

A sincere story about adolescence, friendship, and figuring out who you are. It treats teen experience with respect while remaining genuinely funny and moving about the confusion of growing up.

But The nostalgia and sincerity can feel heavy-handed. Some find it manipulative; others find it perfect.

Never Been Kissed1999

A comedy about someone outside the mainstream figuring out where they belong. It's surprisingly smart about shame and acceptance, with humor that comes from character rather than cruelty.

But It requires buying into Drew Barrymore's extreme nerd transformation, which strains credibility even by '90s rom-com standards.

Superbad2007

A comedy about teenage male friendship and the messy, hilarious gap between what boys say they want and what they actually need. The humor is cruder but the heart is genuine.

But It's aggressively raunchy. If your interest is in thoughtful exploration rather than laugh-out-loud comedy, the tone might feel like a mismatch.

The Edge of Seventeen2016

A sharp teen comedy about belonging and self-doubt, with a central character trying to figure out her place. It balances humor with real emotional loneliness in a way that resonates.

But The protagonist can be abrasive, which is the point but which some viewers find alienating rather than sympathetic.

Beach Rats2017

Both are about young men whose attraction doesn't match their assumed identity, but where Alex Strangelove moves toward acceptance, Beach Rats stays in the friction and never quite resolves it.

A naturalistic, non-judgmental look at a young man caught between two versions of himself—the masculine identity he's living and the desire he's discovering. It finds the comedy in contradiction without ever making the character the joke.

But It's slow, unglamorous, and deliberately ambiguous. There's no resolution or clarity, which some find liberating and others find unsatisfying.

Absolutely Fabulous: The Movie2016

Both refuse the seriousness that's often demanded of queer cinema. They say: this can be joyful, ridiculous, and fun. You don't have to earn your pride through suffering.

A completely different flavor of comedy—loud, trashy, gleefully silly—but it shares Alex Strangelove's core belief that queerness can be funny and fabulous rather than tragic. It's a reminder that LGBTQ+ stories don't have to be solemn.

But It's anarchically crude. If you want subtlety or character development over jokes and chaos, this is the opposite. It's a sugar rush, not a meal.