Funny, charismatic and relatable are all words that can be ascribed to the new movie “Love, Simon,” a movie based on the book “Simon vs. The Homosapien Agenda.” Starring Nick Robinson as the protagonist Simon Spier, the movie follows his coming out story along with his developing romantic interest with his email pen-pal.

The conflict begins when antagonist, Martin, reads and screenshots the emails that Simon has been sending. Martin then proceeds to blackmail Simon by threatening to out him on Tumblr. The audience later learns that the sender of the emails is practically Simon’s online “boyfriend”; Simon and his “boyfriend” are in the closet at the time. Martin then uses the emails to convince Simon’s best friend, Abby, to date him.

The movie alone was an enthralling story with only a few rough spots as a result of awkward transitions or interactions. The cinematics were nice and the scenery and music were well chosen. Aside from that, the movie does a great job of depicting teenage/high school life in general. There are some cringe-inducing sections of the movie, such as when Martin tries to ask Abby out in the middle of a football game and the whole audience goes silent. This created a weird and awkward scene not only for the character, but for the viewers. However, when a movie is talking about high school, it is bound to get awkward at some point.

Even though most of the actors are adults and the movie is fictional, it creates a plot that everyone can relate to, which makes the movie likable and enjoyable. The movie also sheds light on an issue that all LGBT people must face, regardless of how accepting the community they live in is: coming out. Overall, both the scenes of Simon coming out continuously to different people and the chastisement he faces after coming out give an adequate depiction of coming out to the viewers — LGBT or not.

However, the character development is faulty throughout the movie. As the story progresses, more and more characters are introduced. It gets to a point where the names of the characters are lost and the supporting characters come across as shallow and unsupportive. Toward the end of the movie, Simon begins to lose touch with his friends as his whole life falls apart, but the movie does such a mediocre job of building up the characters that when his own friends betray him, it just seems pretentious. You understand why his friends would be upset, but it is completely overblown and unnecessary.

The importance of the movie in today’s culture is what has audiences cheering and is what earns it the 91% score on Rotten Tomatoes. This movie is a new milestone in the Hollywood community, as it has begun the mainstreaming of gay love stories.

All in all, the movie is great by itself, and even when compared to the book, it is decent. From giving a glimpse into the life of a gay character even to it’s subpar character development, altogether, the movie earns the hype it has gotten.