Why Should You See The New Aristotle and Dante Movie?

The movie Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe hit theaters on September 8th of 2023. This movie is based on a top selling book by Benjamin Alire Sáenz. The story follows 15-year-olds Aristotle Mendoza and Dante Quintana after meeting at the pool. Mendoza and Quintana quickly become friends, and bond over having old English names, poetry, and swimming.

Many of those who enjoyed the book were unsure about a movie adaptation, as they feared it would not be executed as beautifully as the original book. On top of that, there were alternating decisions on whether the movie would even be made or not.

While most of the book reviews were praising the author and the unique writing choices he chose to make, there were some people who were displeased with the fact that there wasn't a previous warning of the LGBTQ+ themes in the book. These reviewers believed the parents should be aware ahead of time what their child is reading.

There's a chance that people will refuse to see the movie because of their disagreement with the way they think people should live their lives. There is also the possibility that people who enjoyed the book are afraid that the movie won’t live up to expectations, and therefore will not go see it. However, the most likely cause for people not seeing the movie will be lack of knowledge.

Although the book was very popular and has sold over 700,000 copies, the lack of publicity for the movie caused it to go unnoticed by many people. It took a while for the project to be picked up by a studio as well, so clearly the road to its creation was rough and uncertain.

Most of the reviews have been glowing. Reviewers were very impressed by the acting performance and thought the movie did a good retelling of the book. Some reviewers were very impressed how well the story was told, and believed that even without reading the book, it is a great movie to see because of the cinematography and acting alone.

In my opinion they handled the subject matter very well. The emotional aspects could appear as somewhat rushed through but the dynamic between the main actors was easily seen. The movie was slightly darker than I thought it would be and contained quite a few different plot twists that seemed added for mere shock value. I think overall the movie was a seven out of ten and definitely worth seeing.

Some reviews written online believed that, while they do a good job of moving the story along efficiently, lots of the emotional moments feel rushed through. The movie ends up seeming like a series of snapshots and short scenes combined rather than a fully coherent story. While the movie can be seen as slightly rushed, it is still a well acted coming of age story about two young queer people living in Texas in the 80s, which could not have been easy.

I think this is a good movie to put on your list if you're looking for a movie about sweet teen LGBT love that still captures the darker themes of real life.