THE new gay-themed coming-of-age film Love, Simon is causing such a stir that Hollywood stars are buying out entire cinema sessions and offering tickets to moviegoers for free.

Hollywood stars Neil Patrick Harris, Kristen Bell and Matt Bomer have bought out sessions this Sunday in their respective home towns of Alberquerque, New Mexico (Harris), Minneapolis, Minnesota (Bell) and Spring, Texas (Bomer)

In a post on Instagram, Harris said he and his husband David Burkta “enjoyed (the film) so much, we wanted to pay it forward”.

“Others are doing this, and I’m so on board. It’s free, and a great chance to see this wonderful film,” he said.

Bell was equally enthusiastic. “Love, Simon is a KNOCKOUT. There are so many important stories that don’t get made. I am so grateful this one did. I had absolutely nothing to do with the making of this movie — I just have a huge crush on it and I’d like to share the love,” she posted.

READ VICKI ROACH’S REVIEW OF LOVE, SIMON (M) BELOW

Director: Greg Berlanti

Starring: Nick Robinson, Katherine Langford, Jennifer Garner

Verdict: A sweetly-subversive teenage crowd-pleaser. Four Stars

EVERY screen romance requires an obstacle for its protagonists to successfully overcome.

Love, Simon doubles down on that unwritten rule.

Not only must the gay title character work up the courage to come out to his friends and family, his dilemma is compounded by the fact that he doesn’t yet know the identity of the fellow student with whom he has fallen in love.

Adding a further complication to this besieged teenager’s life is a blackmailing misfit who demands that Simon hook him up with his drop-dead gorgeous friend.

The resultant matchmaking machinations go so badly awry, I was reminded of Jane Austen’s Emma. Although Simon, as played so winningly by Nick Robinson (Jurassic World), is a much more sympathetic character.

Robinson’s naturally restrained performance, illuminated periodically by a killer smile, is supported by an unusually strong ensemble cast.

Not one of these characters — from the homosexual leading man to the bestie gal-pal who is secretly in love with him (13 Reasons Why’s Katherine Langford) or even the adolescent extortionist (Logan Miller) — comes across as a one-dimensional stereotype.

Even the parents (Jennifer Garner and Josh Duhamel) are liberally wholesome without being walking cliches.

Greg Berlanti directs Isaac Aptaker and Elizabeth Berger’s screenplay with a light and confident touch.

When it comes to the fraught prospect of coming out in high school, Love, Simon doesn’t overplay its hand.

Berlanti is sympathetic to his lead character’s dilemma. But he doesn’t labour the point.

The school’s only openly gay student (Clark Moore) has an acerbic comeback for every adolescent put-down he’s subjected to.

And the drama teacher (Natasha Rothwell, who is given the best lines in the film and who knows exactly what to do with them) wipes the floor with the homophobic school bullies.

There’s a fun scene in which Simon imagines a parallel world where heterosexual teenagers must come out to their parents — some of the reactions are priceless.

And Simon’s anonymous email relationship is a terrific narrative device in terms of sustaining the tension.

It allows for a string of flirty near misses — at a party, at a diner and in the school drama hall.

As a coming-of-age drama, Love, Simon is fairly conventional. That, paradoxically, is what makes it so progressive.

Perhaps Berlanti’s biggest triumph is making Hollywood’s first mainstream gay teenage romance seem, well, so familiar.

Love, Simon simultaneously validates the gay teenage experience and makes its lead character’s story feel universal.

Opens Thursday with sneak previews this weekend.