Call Me By Your Name is a young adult film based on the novel written by André Aciman and directed by Luca Guadagnino. This movie centers around two young men, Elio and Oliver, who find love with one another during a brief summer in Italy. Over the summer, Elio’s father invites Oliver, an American college graduate, to their home to help his academic interests.

Although much of the movie focuses on Elio’s love life, a reoccuring theme of the movie is family. Both boys spend the majority of the time with Elio’s family. Through spending time with Elio’s father, Oliver gains knowledge and forms a deeper connection with him. Additionally, Elio, throughout the film, finds comfort in his own parents.

This movie was beautifully shot, using long scenes with minimal cuts. Hints of the surrounding Italian environment appear throughout the movie, the gorgeous scenery being an example. Italian heritage is referenced in multiple other ways as well, with the Italian language being spoken in many scenes along with the English subtitles. Call Me By Your Name brought viewers back in time by the use of their 80s fashion and the constant smoking of cigarettes by all characters. This along with the setting immersed the viewer into 1980s Italy.

There were many times when dialogue was scarce, but this was overcome by the skill of the actors at portraying emotion without the use of language at all. This was achieved through tender silences and still frames of the faces of Elio and Oliver, who were able to show exactly what they were feeling through only facial expressions. These scenes were matched with a beautiful soundtrack that mirrored the happenings of the movie perfectly.

Some reviewers believed that some scenes were too explicit and other think that the movie was too watered down in an attempt to appease the more conservative audience. I disagree with both positions. I feel that the romance and love between two young men was evident in the movie with enough candid scenes portraying the emotion of summer love.