Love, Victor (Spoiler-Free) Review

Love, Victor, a sequel of sorts to the gay teen rom-com Love, Simon, had a winding road to its upcoming premiere on Hulu. Originally planned as a Disney+ original series, the streaming network got scared earlier this year and announced (after some additional time in cancellation limbo) that the series would be moved to Hulu (of which Disney is now the majority shareholder) because it was too adult for Disney+. Before I get into my review of the series (I’ve seen all ten episodes of the first season), I want to briefly touch on that “too adult” label. The series is not too adult. It’s a teen rom-com that happens to have a 16-year-old boy questioning his sexual orientation. There are no sex scenes. There are no instances of intense violence. There are some kisses – both of the hetero and homosexual variety. There are a few instances of salty language. That’s it. Based on the language, I’d say it’s a mild PG-13. It’s no more “adult” than a Marvel movie – most of which are currently on Disney+. The only reason I can fathom for Disney+ moving the series to Hulu is that it’s about a kid trying to figure out if he’s gay or straight. And that’s an incredibly disappointing decision on the part of Disney+.

Now that I’ve gotten that out of the way, time for the actual review. If you haven’t seen Love, Simon, a delightful, if not all that complex, film from a couple of years back, I recommend it. Sure, it’s pretty bland and clearly written to be palatable for straight audiences while also throwing a bone to LGBTQ+ viewers in that they actually get to watch a gay rom-com, but it’s also charming and a nice way to spend a couple hours if you’re in the market for a solid teen-focused gay film. Love, Victor is much in the same vein: it’s perfectly fine, but not all that impressive when it comes to building on the story that was already told in Love, Simon.

Love, Victor tells the story of Victor Salazar (Michael Cimino, who looks age appropriate, but lacks the acting chops to handle some of the show’s more dramatic moments), a high school sophomore who moves from a small town in Texas to Atlanta (and the same Creekwood High School from Love, Simon) after his father gets a new job. Aside from the normal growing pains of starting at a new school mid-year (or at least it seems to be mid-year – the series is a bit confusing on this point), Victor has a sneaking suspicion that he might not be as straight as everyone around him assumes him to be. As a result, he writes an angsty Instagram DM to Simon, who is now off in college at NYU and thriving, complaining that while Simon managed to have a storybook coming out tale, Victor and other kids like him aren’t nearly as lucky. And it’s not fair. Simon responds, and the pair begin a DM friendship as Simon tries to help Victor untangle the mess that is teenage sexuality and figure out whether he’s gay or straight. (It’s far less clinical than it sounds, I promise.)

There’s a lot of plot churning throughout the first season (from Victor meeting his new group of friends and nemeses, the Salazar family going through their own struggles, Pilar (a very good Isabella Ferreira), Victor’s younger sister, having trouble fitting in at Creekwood, and Victor’s new friends dealing with their own family issues), and Victor’s own personal struggles often find themselves taking a backseat to the other problems affecting those around him. Which is fine, since one of Victor’s key traits is serving as a “fixer” for his family and friends (something that the show does explore admirably, as it’s a true stressor for many people), but it means we rehash Victor’s internal arguments over and over before any progress is made.

I should stress that there’s no one size fits all coming out story, and it’s nice to see how Victor’s journey is different from Simon’s (Victor who is from a Latinx background, has family members – including his own father – who are casually homophobic throughout the season, and his family is markedly religious – a change from Simon’s very outwardly liberal parents in the film). I only wish the series had a better handle on the sprawling narrative so that actual progress happened at a decent pace throughout season rather than in confusing fits and starts. I fully bought that it took Victor the whole of the ten episodes to reach the place he does, but the fits and starts it takes to get there began to feel contrived simply to prevent the narrative from unfolding in a cleaner manner. When you can see the plot strings being pulled it takes away from the potential strength of the narrative path.

There are some things that really work well within Love, Victor, and most of them have almost nothing to do with the various teen dramas that occur over the course the season. Of particular note are the performances of Ana Ortiz and James Martinez as the Salazar parents. Both are seasoned actors (in a cast that doesn’t have a whole lot of those), and are given their own complex storylines to work through outside of the teenage side of things. It’s those arcs that really hit and work significantly better than some of the thinner rom-com/teenage drama that the series throws our way. Martinez, in particular, is carving out an interesting niche of playing the homophobic father of Latinx teens, as he also play the dad on the (excellent, cannot recommend it enough) sitcom One Day at a Time.

But, as a series, Love, Victor is pretty bland. It, like Love, Simon before it, felt like watching a sanitized version of a coming out story, packaged to make sure those who might not have had this experience themselves could relate and understand. That’s all well and good, but the series lacks any real emotional heft. The non-coming out arcs are all pretty paint-by-numbers storylines that have been done better, with stronger writing and performances, on any number of teen dramas. Everything has a touch of the “TGIF solve everything in 30 minutes or less” feel to it, with the emotional very special talks and the swelling music. It’s clear that the series was aimed at a younger audience with how it handles interpersonal conflict. And, even then, I’m pretty sure Gen Z doesn’t want to be talked down to. They can handle more than Love, Victor has to offer.

So, is Love, Victor worth a look? Sure, especially if you, like Victor, are having some questions regarding your own sexual orientation (or you are the parent or friend of someone who is). It has some great messaging buried under the angst – although the fact that Victor never once takes to the internet to try and work out his orientation (and that straight and gay are the only two options he contemplates throughout the season) reads as naive and at odds with the way his generation sees sexuality and sexual orientation. But for adults without those caveats, well, perhaps just give Love, Simon a look instead. The film offers up much of the same in terms of storyline and messaging and does it in half the time.

Love, Victor premieres Wednesday, June 17 on Hulu.