“Love, Simon” brings an inventive twist to romantic comedies with a diverse plot to carry the film.

The film stars Nick Robinson and Katherine Langford along with Jennifer Garner and Josh Duhamel who all work together in making “Love, Simon” an outstanding film. This cast tugs at the heartstrings of viewers with the emotion they put into their roles.

Simon Spier, played by Robinson, wants an epic love story and a happy ending; however, his friends and family struggle when he comes out as gay, ultimately supporting him when he needs it the most. Simon fantasizes about a fellow gay classmate because he just wants to find love so badly, and each time he is wrong about who that classmate is, it breaks his heart little by little.

“Love, Simon” uses many cliches that come with any other teen movie such as the principal who tries way too hard to connect with his students. Despite this, “Love, Simon” manages to be different and relevant because of the difficulty Simon faces while coming out.

The film incorporates issues which have become more relevant over the past decades such as bullying and the acceptance of varying sexualities. This provides a more meaningful theme as opposed to the generic love story with laughs that romantic comedies seem to easily fall into.

While Simon’s friends are accepting of his sexuality, they do not understand the choices he made before coming out. Simon went to great lengths to keep his sexual identity a secret because he wanted to decide when, where and who knew, which ended with him betraying his friends. This allows viewers to develop a unique sympathy for all the characters involved rather than just the main character.

In one scene, Simon’s father Jack, played by Duhamel, struggles to accept Simon’s secret because he thought Simon would have talked to him about it sooner. Duhamel puts his emotions into the scene where Simon finally comes out and brings out the tears from the audience.

In addition, this is not the first time Langford has successfully played a role that dealt with bullying. Her character Hannah Baker in the 2017 Netflix series “13 Reasons Why” faces serious bullying and eventually commits suicide. Her character in “Love, Simon” deals with a more indirect form of bullying, but she again is able to successfully portray the impact of bullying.

“Love, Simon” reminds viewers to be true to themselves and those around them, being a romantic comedy with more than just a cheesy love story.