Love, Simon (2018)

Here we go, another novel adapted to a screenplay… and for once I’m sure this wasn’t a mistake.

Simon Spier (Nick Robinson) lives a normal life, as he tells us right at the start of this film. He has a happy home life, with his mum (Jennifer Garner), his dad (Josh Duhamel) and his sister Nora (Talitha Bateman). He has a great group of friends, who he has been friends with for years Nick, and Leah, and his new found friend Abby (Jorge Lendeborg Jr., Katherine Lagford, and Alexandra Shipp) and is the guy everyone likes, generally. However, he has a secret that he has been keeping from all of these people, and the rest of the world – he’s gay.

He connects with someone online, because of a reveal on their school blog, type website, and finally he can open up to someone and he feels a that a burden has been lifted, and for the first time, is allowed to feel what he wants to despite keeping the truth bottled up. Another person finds out about his emails to his ‘pen-pal’, Blue – and all hell breaks loose. He has to choose between what is right, and what is easy whilst putting all of these brilliant relationships, and his perfect life on the line.

First things first, I think the producer for this film was a solid match. As someone who is openly gay, Greg Berlanti had this. There was such a personal element that was felt throughout this film, it was really just spot on. I mean, I am not gay, but it was almost like films about people who loose family members to cnacer, you can relate on some level. Anything involving how much respect is deserved by those within the LGBTQ+ community is something I live for. That is a community I comfortably assosciate myself as a part of, and this film - in particular how Simon dealt with everything about his situation filled me with masses of warmth.

The emphasis on this should definitely be how his support networks were written in to this. Don’t get me wrong, like always, this is an over perfect, ideal kind of result. What are the chances of things ever panning out this way? But come on, it’s fictional, and it got shit for a little while for Simon, because we’re humans and we all mess up because we are a selfish species… But then we manage to bring it back in after some wallowing and consistent apologising. 

This film really focused on how awful things can be, and how imperfect romance really is, and that’s what I liked about it. Oh, I’m also a sucker for a happy ending.

The cast were responsible for SO MUCH SUCCESS IN THIS. What an absolute gem Nick Robinson is. His performance was fantastically multi-layered and ticked all of the boxes. He was able to turn on his charm when needed, demonstrate that Simon needed to hide his emotions at times, was able to be funny and easy going, and when it came down to it really go for it and pull on the old heartstrings of the audience. I felt connected with Simon, and his group of friends. Such moving performances from such generally young cast. Credit, where credit is due.  

The editing in this was perfect. It was well paced, it was upbeat, and it adjusted to what was going on where it needed to in the story. The script was spot on, we got a sweet dose of knowledge every now and then, and really got to know everyone enough that the film wasn’t filled with pure fluff, but didn’t leave you lost expecting more.

The score was brilliantly selected, suiting so many different moods, and genuinely kept me smiling, and again helped with the pacing, and with helping you feel connected to the characters we were learning about and watching.

This film was about a young boy coming out as gay, but it was also about the struggles of being a teenager. This was a decent ‘coming of age’ rom-com. Any topical humour that was thrown in, was not offensive, it was funny. It didn’t change my opinion on any one person, or group of people. It didn’t make me cringe, it wasn’t a bunch of kids being badly portrayed, it felt real. The level of thought put into this production is what made it a success. The obvious chunks of personality, and personal experience and feeling that have clearly gone into its creation have made it one of my favourite films of 2018, so far.



Definitely a must-see. Like I said, I’m not gay, but its inoffensive, heart-warming and SO worth the watch. I’m ready to see this again.

7.5/10

CINEMATES - S

A Quiet Place (2018)

I was intrigued on the trailer, those few minutes made me quiet and hesitant and the whole film is exactly the same. John Krasinski stars in his directorial debut with his wife Emily Blunt in arguably the best horror of the year, and it's only just April. Set in a post apocalyptic world where blind monsters hunt by sound alone and very few have survived. Krasinski, Blunt and their children live on a farm communicating via sign language. Their daughter, Regan, is deaf and confident, their son, Marcus, less so. We learn the family has grieved early on and that they are expecting a new baby soon. 

Right let's talk about sound cos hot damn. Adored the sound, as soon as it finished I thought this could be it this could be the first horror to get an Oscar nom for sound mixing and or editing. With Regan being deaf we alternate to be given her perspective. The sound goes from suspenseful, quiet footsteps or breathing to absolute silence. It's odd how you almost feel like you can relax your breath in complete absence of sound, you almost feel safer not hearing the creatures creeping about or the potentially too loud stumble. It becomes understandable as to why she has more confidence than her brother. 

The score was perfect, gentle yet pulsating, the monsters were raw as was the rest of the sound used. With the farm location there's a lot of open space for sounds to sit, as with the forest and river scenes. The cinematography was good, the same, natural and unclean as the world is now. We get a lot of intimate shots to emphasise the expressions on our ensembles faces, Krasinski's Lee is sternly animated, think sexy Wreck It Ralph. Great wide shots to contrast, stationary shots to ground the scene with more movements to show haste. 

One of the things I thoroughly enjoyed was the visual storytelling. There's no flash backs, there's no, hey remember what happened that time, no vocal spoon feeding. We get a great deal of newspaper clippings to show a how time has passed. 'YOU'RE ON YOUR OWN' titles a front page to show just how far things have gone. We don't have another family to compared to so the old news is new to us, it gives us scale. The basement in the framehouse has Krasinski's work, off limit to the kids. This again gives us an idea of time frame, the amount of research he has put into hearing aids and radio signals. The collection of materials and resourcing weighs the room down without telling us directly. Same with the baby proofing or hinting at later scenes, they place them in the frame and let you take it in. 

Another thing worth noting is the monster. We see it! We see the monsters a lot. And clearly and well. It's not a big secret with a huge reveal at the end that becomes disappointing. They're gradually shown and introduced more each time, I respect them so much more for giving us that. They're interesting to watch, fascinating to see gravitate towards sound and actually kinda scary. I think they were perfectly designed for the story.

The cast was spectacular, I walked out of the screening just thinking about what a great father Krasinski is and learning after that he felt this was an ode to his children is it becomes obvious. Blunt again was fantastic, both natural parents and great actors so I would have believed they were married on film even if they weren't in real life. The kids were also great, Millicent Simmonds is a great sister and teenage girl, she handles herself well. Noah Jupe was sweet and terrified, you see him give in a little and trust his parents even though he's frightened of just being alive at this point. 

The only flaw for me, no spoilers, is the conclusion. Not because I didn't like it, I did. But because it wasn't sooner. Not in the film but within the world they've created. I struggle to believe with how much work they put into surviving and learning about the creatures that they wouldn't have come to this conclusion earlier. Other than that great pacing for a horror, maintained itself well.

I adored this, I'm completely ready to watch this in complete silence in my own home on blu ray later this year. Refreshing storytelling, must watch for horror fans, good amount of heart in there. 8/10

CINEMATES - A