Cert 12A 110mins Stars 4

With a welcome lesson of universal respect and a fresh-faced innocent tone, this warm and funny high school comedy is a hugely enjoyable inclusive hug of love.

Nick Robinson delivers a star-making turn as the gay and closeted Simon, who is blackmailed by a fellow student. To prevent being outed, Simon is forced interfere with his friends’ romances with predictably dire consequences.

The young attractive cast bring a breezy confidence to the funny and smart script which takes pains to emphasises how ordinary Simon is. Though in US, ‘ordinary’ involves huge houses and acne free teenagers driving to school.

With all the teens struggling to establish their identities and transition to adulthood, the film reaches out beyond being an exercise in coming out to become a non-judgmental take on some very familiar territory. 

So we still have home-coming parties, embarrassing public declarations of affection, drinking games and vomit. But there’s no drug use and unsurprisingly, no unintended pregnancies.