Content warning: This post mentions homophobia and violence. Over 10 years after Benjamin Alire Sáenz’s novel came out, the Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe movie is in theaters. The story was pretty groundbreaking for its time: Following the love story between two Mexican-American teenage boys in 1980s Texas, the novel went on to win the Stonewall Book Award, become a Printz Honor Book, and made the top 10 for American Library Association (ALA) Best Fiction for Young Adults list in 2013. Given its popularity, most fans are probably heading to the theater wondering what changes the Ari and Dante movie made to the book.
The film adaptation was written and directed by Aitch Alberto in her feature film directorial debut, and stars Max Pelayo and Reese Gonzales as Ari Mendoza and Dante Quintana, respectively. Luckily, the story was in pretty good hands with these three: Diehard book fans can breathe a sigh of relief knowing that the film was almost totally faithful to the source material. But with that said, there are still some differences between the Ari and Dante book and movie. Spoiler warning: Spoilers for Aristotle & Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe follow.
- The Bernardo reveal
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Book: Throughout the book, Ari is plagued by thoughts of his older brother, Bernardo, who is like a ghost in the family: Nobody ever talks about him, and all Ari knows is that he’s in prison. It’s not until pretty late in the book, after his Aunt Ophelia’s funeral, that Ari’s mother tells him what really happened: He killed someone with his bare fists.
Movie: The reveal of Bernardo’s past comes much earlier in the movie, while Dante is still on the other side of the country in Chicago. The conversation goes pretty much the same, but it’s put into motion by Ari demanding answers rather than letting his curiosity fester. Later, he calls Dante and tells him what his mother said.
- Ileana’s pregnancy
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Blue Fox Entertainment Book: After Dante’s family moves to Chicago for the school year, Ari starts ignoring many of his letters in favor of trying to talk to Ileana, his crush at school. He does eventually kiss her, but she leaves and later tells him that she has a boyfriend in a gang and can’t be with him. Ari shows up to her house to try and talk to her, but finds out she dropped out of school altogether because she’s pregnant.
Movie: Ileana has the same reason for telling Ari why they can’t be together, but there’s no pregnancy.
- Ari’s fever and night terrors
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Book: During his first summer with Dante, Ari develops a fever and grows increasingly sick, being cared for by his parents — including his father, whom Ari struggles to connect with for most of the novel. He also experiences night terrors.
Movie: Pretty much this whole subplot is cut, possibly for time or because there are already two scenes with either Ari or Dante lying in a hospital bed for other reasons.
- Ari’s reaction to his kiss with Dante
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Blue Fox Entertainment Book: Dante asks Ari to kiss him as an “experiment,” and after the kiss, they avoid each other for a few days and then go back to being friends.
Movie: Ari does not react well to the kiss and begins yelling for Dante to get out of his car, scaring both of them. They essentially go radio silence after that for a chunk of time, rather than awkwardly smoothing things over.
- Soledad’s pregnancy
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Book: There was a lot more pregnancy in the book, apparently — Dante’s mother Soledad is also revealed to be having a baby.
Movie: Soledad is played by Eva Longoria, and though she has some great moments in the film, a pregnancy reveal is not one of them.
- Gina and Susie
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Blue Fox Entertainment Book: Ari has some more moments with Gina and Susie, the two girls at school who love to bug him. He even drives out to the desert with them at one point, and their dynamic becomes more affectionate and friendly. Gina and Susie also meet Dante when they stop in at his job at the local pharmacy.
Movie: Gina and Susie are more often than not shown to be a nuisance to Ari, and they don’t get as many moments to build a more real friendship.
- The Daniel conversation
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Book: Dante’s father Sam basically flat-out tells Ari that he thinks Dante’s new boyfriend, Daniel, is a stand-in because Dante is truly in love with Ari. These parents are so involved in their kids’ lives.
Movie: While they did a great job casting Diego Parra to play Daniel, since he does look quite similar to Ari, that comparison goes unsaid and there’s no conversation like that between Ari and Dante’s parents.
Most of these changes still keep the heart and soul of the story the same, and many of the details about minor characters could’ve just been cut for time or to keep a closer focus on Ari and Dante for the whole movie. Regardless, the movie still highlights many of the book’s most important themes, from Ari and Dante’s different relationships with their Mexican-American identity to the honest portrayal of LGBTQ+ teens in the 1980s. IMHO? Book fans will still be very happy with this adaptation.