Film

Love, Simon

Name: Love, Simon
Genre: Comedy, Drama, Romance
Released: 2018
Cast: Nick Robinson, Jennifer Garner, Josh Duhamel, Katherine Langford, Alexandra Shipp

A glossy studio teen rom-com about a closeted 17-year-old juggling a secret email flirtation, a blackmailer, and the ordinary chaos of senior year. It's warm, funny, and unashamedly optimistic — John Hughes wardrobe, earnest heart, PG-13 stakes. Great for teens needing to see themselves reflected kindly, or anyone who wants a coming-out story that ends soft rather than bruised.

TMDb rating

8.0

If you liked this

To All the Boys I've Loved Before2018

Same candy-colored high school romance energy, same secret-letters-turned-real-feelings engine, and just as generous to its characters. Lara Jean is Simon's spiritual cousin in every way that matters.

But Straight romance with none of the coming-out stakes — lower emotional ceiling if that's what drew you in.

To All the Boys I've Loved Before poster

The Edge of Seventeen2016

Sharper-tongued and messier than Simon's world, but the same tender core: a teenager figuring out who to trust with the truth about themselves, played for real laughs and real hurt.

But Hailee Steinfeld's Nadine is prickly and self-sabotaging — less huggable than Simon, more abrasive comedy.

The Perks of Being a Wallflower2012

A gentler, sadder cousin — mixtapes instead of emails, a queer best friend instead of a queer lead, and the same insistence that high school outsiders deserve tenderness.

But Trades Simon's brightness for melancholy and trauma undertones; not the easy comfort watch.

The wildcard

Something you would not have found on your own.

In a Heartbeat2017no page yet

Same premise distilled to its purest form: the terror and joy of a heart you can't control giving you away. Different medium, same organ doing the talking.

A wordless four-minute animated short about a boy whose own heart literally leaps out of his chest chasing his crush — it says everything Simon spends two hours saying, with zero dialogue and total clarity.

But It's over before you've settled in — a taste, not a meal, and some will want more story to hold onto.

Love, Victor2020

The actual continuation of Simon's world, following a new kid at Creekwood navigating his own coming out — more room to breathe across three seasons than the film ever had.

But It's a direct spinoff, so if you wanted something new rather than more, this will feel like a rerun.

Easy A2010

Same high school ecosystem of rumor, reputation, and self-invention, filtered through a whip-smart heroine instead of a nervous narrator — funnier, faster, just as warm underneath.

But Focused on straight romance and slut-shaming rather than queerness — different fight, different stakes.

Alex Strangelove2018no page yet

A scrappier, rawer take on the same premise — a boy with a girlfriend slowly realizing he's gay — with rougher edges and more explicit teenage horniness than Simon allows itself.

But Netflix-budget filmmaking with less polish and a messier, more meandering back half.

Booksmart2019

Louder, filthier, and gayer in its own way — a best-friend odyssey through one wild night that shares Simon's belief that high school kids deserve joy, not just cautionary tales.

But Raunchier and more chaotic; if you wanted Simon's quiet sweetness, this will feel like a different volume entirely.

Call Me by Your Name2017

The arthouse mirror image — same first-love ache, same summer of secrecy, but slower, sensual, and unresolved in ways Hollywood rarely allows.

But An adult register with nudity and heartbreak that lingers; nothing about it wraps up neatly.

Crush2022no page yet

A lighter, campier riff on secret-identity teen romance, with a mystery crush and an art class instead of a mystery emailer — pure sugar if you just want more of Simon's comfort-food register.

But Thinner characters and lower stakes; charming but forgettable next to Simon's emotional weight.

Beautiful Thing1996

Same coming-out arc and first-crush nervousness, but stripped of money, gloss, and plot mechanics — proof the story worked long before Hollywood softened it.

A British indie made two decades before Simon, set on a working-class London estate — two boys next door falling for each other with none of the studio gloss, all of the tenderness, and a soundtrack of Mama Cass instead of pop radio.

But Low-budget, unpolished filmmaking with grim domestic backdrops — this is coming out without the safety net Simon's suburbia provides.

Pose2018

Both are about building a self in secret and the family you assemble to survive being unseen — Pose just plays that story at full volume, in a world where the consequences were life and death.

A sprawling, gorgeous drama about New York's ballroom scene in the 80s and 90s — chosen family, secret identities, and the cost of being seen, but with the stakes of the AIDS crisis instead of a high school cafeteria.

But Far more serious and historically weighty — grief, illness, and violence sit alongside the joy, with none of Simon's protective softness.