In Netflix's 'The Half Of It,' A Queer Asian Teen Finds Truth Amid Wild Love Triangle

Leah Lewis and Daniel Diemer star in Netflix's "The Half of It," due out May 1. “The Half of It” follows Ellie Chu, a bookish teen being raised by a widowed father in the Pacific Northwest who ghostwrites her classmates’ term papers when she’s not dodging anti-Asian epithets. Netflix/KC Bailey Though writer and director Alice Wu didn’t intend for “The Half of It” to debut amid the coronavirus crisis, the movie’s focus on an Asian American protagonist ― particularly one who receives racist bullying ― feels topical. We’re all in our own bubbles of our choosing, and it’s a little harder to get shaken out of it.” "Seeing an Asian American be a lead, and Like “Cyrano de Bergerac,” “The Half of It” presents its central trio of characters as points on a romantic triangle. “Seeing an Asian American be a lead, and Hollywood has become more inclusive of LGBTQ narratives in recent years, thanks to movies like “Love, Simon” and Ryan Murphy’s ever-expanding universe of queer TV characters.