Two more movies, released in September, also follow this pattern. Some queer films – especially smaller releases at LGBT film festivals – have obviously pushed beyond the coming-of-age genre, but it’s hard to ignore that almost all of the mainstream LGBT releases of the past year work predominantly within this framework. Other films, such as Call Me By Your Name and Beach Rats, depict characters who embark on formative gay relationships for the first time. Alex Strangelove, too, deals with the disorientating feeling of accepting one’s sexuality in a heteronormative world. It’s a film that deals with the anxieties of coming out in the age of social media, where the whoosh of an email or the ping of a message notification can give Simon a sucker punch of anxiety, before he finally comes to terms with his identity.
As he prepares to go to college, Simon is outed online and starts to form a connection with an anonymous gay teen over email. Love, Simon - like most coming-of-age movies - deals with a character on the cusp of something. LGBT cinema has, over the past few years in particular, forged a deep love affair with this genre.
