It stars Leah Lewis, Daniel Diemer, and Alexxis Lemire, with Enrique Murciano, Wolfgang Novogratz, Catherine Curtin, Becky Ann Baker, and Collin Chou in supporting roles.
It is loosely inspired by Edmond Rostand's 1897 play Cyrano de Bergerac, and follows a Chinese-American student helping the school jock woo a girl whom, secretly, they both desire.
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, who happens to be reluctantly dating Trig, a narcissistic and popular boy from a wealthy family.
Under the identity of Paul, Ellie begins a heartfelt correspondence with Aster about their shared interests in art and literature through letters and text messages.
[4][5] In April 2019, it was announced that Leah Lewis, Alexxis Lemire, Daniel Diemer, Becky Ann Baker, Catherine Curtin, Wolfgang Novogratz, and Enrique Murciano joined the cast of the film, with Wu directing and Netflix distributing.
[7] The film's name alludes to love as discussed in Plato's Symposium - which was cited in the opening sequence[8][9] and structured various visual motifs.
She gleaned that "there are a lot of closeted people who are actually starting to change their mind", and that Netflix could better reach them—even though a theatrical release would "be better for you as a filmmaker in terms of cachet".
When probed by a Netflix executive on her intentions for writing the film, she realized that "people are not going to go to the theater to watch this movie but in the privacy of their own home".
The website's consensus reads: "For viewers in search of an uncommonly smart, tender, and funny coming-of-age story, The Half of It has everything.
"[17] Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the film a score of 74 out of 100, based on 23 critics, indicating "generally favorable" reviews.
[18] Decider said the plot is "an unbearably cute premise—a modern-day Cyrano de Bergerac with a queer twist—that seems so perfect and so obvious, it’s a wonder the movie hasn’t been made yet", and "an adorable teen film that will no doubt service an extremely underserved audience.
"[19] Rolling Stone praised the direction, stating that "the gentle touch Wu uses as a filmmaker, which only occasionally drifts into tidiness, does not dull the edges of her quietly revolutionary achievement in telling the story of a young lesbian immigrant’s journey to self-acceptance.
"[20] The New York Times noted that "Wu suffuses the film with a painfully mature understanding of the ache of longing for the impossible.
"[21] Bitch magazine wrote that "while these teenage-focused [...] movies flirt with the idea of lesbian relationships, they quickly pivot before their casual interest can evolve into any fully realized romance", with the film's story seeming "to be more about the halfway happiness Ellie's given: maybe some acceptance, maybe a friend, maybe a first love.