Absolutely loved this movie from beginning to end, nothing will ever be as inspiring and seeing a teen be unapologetically himself and shining as brightly as the sun. This movie could be 10 hours long and I'd love every second. I just wish this movie had a bigger fanbase.

As a "freak" myself and a queer teen, this film really spoke to me. The entire moral of it, Billy's character, all of it. I had tears in my eyes by the end. Sure, some may call it cliché or cheesy, but in this case that is what gave it life. For any other teen struggling with self-confidence and esteem, I truly believe this film will impact that as it did me.

I'm not typically a fan of movies set in high school since everyone is completely awful, but it was nice to seeing this one there was the support and resilience to just not care about other people's opinion. Sure, they were some cliche bits, but I feel like that's what gave some of its humor and charm. Also, the public opinion turn-around in the ending seemed unrealistically fast, but this is a movie, not reality, so I'll let it slide. Overall, good message.

The freak show is a very underrated masterpiece (IMDb 6.6), most of you probably haven't even heard of this movie and it's probably fine. The film was originally aimed at a small audience, unfortunately in our world, only a small number of people will be interested in this film, the problems that it raises, the stereotypes that it shows. Billie Bloom is my homecoming queen. The plot of the films at first glance is very simple LGBTQ boy moves to a small town, where he begins to hate almost all the students of the school. But there is no only black or only white, in the crowd of these haters, he finds Flip Kelly, Mark Kelly and a couple of other friends-acquaintances, but honestly this is nothing more than an extra. I'm not going to tell you the whole story to be honest, it's not really important, so if you're interested in this movie, you can watch it. This one will be like a mirror for every LGBTQ person, the film shows harassment from a homophobic society, the film shows a friend (girlfriend) - an acquaintance (acquaintance) with whom you want to be together, but he is not an LGBTQ person, although you may sometimes think that this is so. The film shows latent LGBTQ people who show homophobia only as a defense of themselves, but eventually, realize that they live in "someone else's skin" only because someone can condemn them or take the place of Billy Bloom. The film shows how society is not ready to accept LGBTQ people, even if it treats them positively or neutrally. The film shows a friend ( girlfriend) who likes to spend time with you, who considers you his friend, but because of the fear that his (her ) ) they will also consider LGBTQ a person, or they will also start hounding you because of the fact that he ( she ) communicates with you, he (she ) as in the movie, he asks you to hide it or just turns away from you, either because of your refusal or because of other reasons. Each of us needs a person like Billy Bloom, who can reveal to us our inner freak, who we really are without the mask that we wear when we go out into society. And as the film shows, when we open our inner freak to ourselves and others, many people will turn away from us. But is it better to live under a mask, but in the approval of society, or to be what we are, even without those people who consider us freaks? Also, the film does not go into some fairy tale, wherein the end everything will be fine and everyone will accept you and everything will be fine, NO. The film shows that even if people understand you, they will not be able to accept you (some of them) and eventually that friend will not take off his mask or just turn out to be an LGBTQ person and you will not live like in a fairy tale, the world will not become a beautiful place, etc. In summary, I want to say that this film is ideal for those people who doubt who he really is, for already open LGBTQ people, this film will only be such a good look from the outside at themselves, that would understand what we do not owe this society. I hope that you will want to watch this film and I still repeat once again that the film is most underestimated, I understand that it is not ideal from the point of view of shooting, narration of the plot, but the film is about something else, it is not about some perfectly invented plot that is important to present well, no, this film is a mirror of life. "Sometimes I dream I can fly, but I'm so tired of flapping my wings. And the higher I fly, the more it reminds me of how little I fit into them on the ground. So I go up and up and I realize I don't want to fly anymore... they never knew what they were looking at anyway."

Not for a minute did I believe the story being told, a critical element to movie making. I also never felt any sympathy or rooting for the main character. The story has potential and I've seen it done well elsewhere but this film is a failure. The motivation of the jock best friend was never clear, the past and present mom and dad were completely incongruent, and Mary Jane was almost dismissed in spite of being such a great friend and supporter. Very poor storytelling.

All the actors are FAR TOO OLD for this movie. There is a tendency for casting directors to chose older actors who they think can better handle the range and intensity of a character, but are 6-10 years older than the High School students they are supposed to play. Why not use actors of the character's age so they might build their skills and filmography? The storyline is another coming-of-age depictions that relates that everyone has their own "flag to fly" because growing into adulthood means deciding who to be - but in 2020 that includes gender and sexual-partner choices just to make life more inclusive, and more complicated.

I enjoyed it. Sure, it might not cover all the nuances of living as a queer teen, but it wasn't meant to. Alex Lawther is great though and I felt good after watching it.

I got four personalities from this movie: Gay, Homophobic, Love-Interest, and Forgettable. The main character was an absolute jerk and fell head over heels for a guy he knew for only ten seconds. Trip- or Mark as he prefers but fails to correct anyone- has the classic "misunderstood dude-bro™" archetype but it fails at coming into play with his character. The only time we see it come into play is when he sketches Billy or that moment when he had an orgasm over a painting. It was a nice addition making Muv a bad person but it's also strange how Billy failed to question why he was randomly dropped off at his dad's house. That makes sense though since the kid probably snorts glitter like crack. did they ever actually plan on giving him personality or did they just only ever get to the gay part? The only redeeming part of him were his internal monologue that was sometimes amusing. Mary "BlahBlahBlah" Jane stated that the Homophobe™ was a loner and nobody knew what was up with him but apparently our rip-off Janice/Damien doesn't know anything since we saw him communicating with the popular kids the entire movie. oh he's also gay but who could've guessed that cliche, that again, has no payoff. The only good character was Lynette which is terrible because she's the Bible Thumping Homophobe™. TL:DR Gay Mean Girls 2 Was A Mistake With Good Intentions

A beautiful, inspiring film with brilliant actors and actresses. I loved it!

Well crafted but somewhat typical.

Several of the reviewers dissed this movie for being too much like a "teen movie", IT IS A TEEN MOVIE!. it is a fantasy. It would not work as a slick, polished, perfect presentation. Being a teen, an outsider teen or one who tries to fit in, is all about trial and error and being a cliché, seeing what fits and what doesn't. I thought this movie followed the same path. And really, when was the last time a movie made you feel good at the end!

this film is completely underrated, it expresses an underground point of view, sure its a little childish and seems a bit to much like a teen movie but it would be so boring as an adult.

Finally a movie that is not about coming out. I really like the so many pop culture representation of the main character and the unpredictability of the story. The only thing that I didn't get so much is the fact that both of his parents were way too old to have such a young child. Was he adopted?

I liked the cast. I liked the story. I liked the colorful wardrobe. But most of all I liked the message. That it's okay to be queer, to be different. "Love Simon" and "Alex Strangelove" were nice movies but they featured straight-acting guys "suddenly" discovering they were gay. They were very safe. It's okay. He's just like us. (gag) But not everyone is masculine. Not everyone can fit in with the sheep. Let's hear it for the kids who dare to be different. Those are my people!

It was actually fun, I'm quite sympathetic with the 'freaks' so I had a great time watching this movie. Acting was good, costumes were fabulous. There sure were cliches but we live in a world where everything is said and done.

Brilliant! Funny and inspiring

Based on Party Monster James St. James's novel, this light-hearted indie drama gives us Billy Bloom, a gay teenager arriving on his first day at a new school dressed in his own flamboyant and unique style, and explores the bullying culture against a non-conforming minority with a funny screenplay that's believable and super self-aware at the same time. First time director Trudie Styler (assisted by cinematographer Dante Spinotti who gives it an extra professional sheen) delivers a breezy film about acceptance and tolerance that is heartfelt and charming in equal measures. Sentiments are thankfully kept in check as the script avoids easy options and over-neat resolutions to ground an already fairytale-like story with a sense of reality. It further boasts an amiable cast of young actors, and in particular Alex Lawther's Billy, who never grates or falls into stereotypes; and a fabulous whirlwind of a cameo by Bette Midler as Billy's mum; but it's Celia Weston who won me over as the initially disapproving housekeeper whose compassion shines through in crucial moments in the film. Giving the main character a gay twist (and a privileged background that might justify the many outrageous outfits he can afford but could otherwise detracts from the film's message), this follows in the footsteps of films such as the recent Lady Bird, and even Election, going further back, and is a likeable and resonating film for audiences queer or not alike.

did not enjoy. found it boring. not my type of lgbt movie at all.

i love this movie so much!!!! i love alex lawther act so so much

It does have a sort of predictable story, but it is a great piece of art. Well directed, well acted and a necessary liberty step to these "let's build a wall" days.