The Half of It (2020)
12-month trend
12-month trend
Monthly article views
2025-09 to 2026-08
A socially ostracized student helps a popular jock woo a girl they both secretly desire by ghostwriting his correspondence.
The story
Ellie Chu lives in the remote town of Squahamish with her grieving widower father, where she performs most of his station master and signalman duties. The socially ostracized Ellie is secretly interested in Aster Flores, the beautiful daughter of the minister who is reluctantly dating Trig, a narcissistic popular boy from a wealthy family. Ellie's next-door neighbor Paul Munsky, an inarticulate football team member, asks Ellie to help him by ghostwriting a love letter from him to Aster. Ellie eventually agrees to help in order to help pay her family's bills, beginning a heartfelt correspondence with Aster while posing as Paul.
Full plot (contains spoilers)
Ellie Chu, a socially ostracized student in Squahamish, ghostwrites essays for classmates and secretly pines for Aster Flores. When her neighbor Paul Munsky asks her to write love letters to Aster, Ellie agrees to help pay her family's bills. Ellie begins a heartfelt correspondence with Aster, posing as Paul. After a failed date, Ellie begins teaching Paul about art and literature to help him portray the persona she created. Ellie eventually sends Aster text messages via a shared account while Paul pretends to type. Paul later reveals he kissed Aster, unnerving Ellie. Despite this, Ellie continues to help Paul, even writing to food critics to promote his 'taco sausage.' Aster takes Ellie to a hot spring where they share an intimate conversation about religion and Aster's impending marriage to Trig. Aster later questions Paul about his beliefs, contrasting him with Ellie. At a football game, Paul realizes Ellie loves Aster and chooses to accept her sexuality. Trig publicly proposes to Aster, but Ellie and Paul stop him; Aster recognizes Ellie's writing and realizes the truth. Aster rejects Trig to attend art school, admits feelings for Ellie, and the two share a kiss. Ellie leaves for Grinnell College, and Paul sees her off at the train platform.
- First release year
- 2020
- Runtime (minutes)
- 104
- Production countries
- United States
- Original languages
- English
- Directors
- Alice Wu
- Writers
- Alice Wu · writer
- Cast and characters
- Leah Lewis · Ellie Chu; Daniel Diemer · Paul Munsky; Alexxis Lemire · Aster Flores; Collin Chou · Edwin Chu; Wolfgang Novogratz · Trig Carson; Becky Ann Baker · Mrs. Geselschap; Catherine Curtin · Colleen Munsky; Enrique Murciano · Deacon Flores
- Genres
- coming-of-age; comedy-drama
- Themes
- Self-acceptance; Authenticity; Longing; Identity
- Tone and mood
- Gentle; Languid; Mature
- Premise and plot tags
- Coming-of-age; LGBTQ+; Chinese-American; Cyrano de Bergerac inspiration
- Source material / true-story basis
- Edmond Rostand's 1897 play Cyrano de Bergerac
- Reception
- The film received positive reviews from critics, who mostly praised Wu's direction and screenplay, as well as the performances of Lewis and Diemer. It was noted for its mature understanding of longing and its portrayal of a journey to self-acceptance.
- Reported review scores
- Metacritic · score: 74 · scale: 100 · review count: 23
- Awards and nominations
- Founders Award for Best U.S. Narrative Feature · Best U.S. Narrative Feature · 2020 · Win; Best Screenplay · Best Screenplay · 36th Independent Spirit Awards · Nomination; Outstanding Film – Limited Release · Outstanding Film – Limited Release · 32nd GLAAD Media Awards · Nomination
- Production trivia
- The film's name alludes to love as discussed in Plato's Symposium.; The film was loosely inspired by Edmond Rostand's 1897 play Cyrano de Bergerac.
Film metadata comes from the open sources listed in Credits & Contact. Catalogue details may be incomplete.
Your lists
Loading your lists…