Some films don’t end when the credits roll. Call Me by Your Name is one of them. Long after watching it, many viewers find themselves returning to certain scenes, lines, or impressions — not because the film demands attention, but because it continues to resonate in unexpected ways.
In the years following its release, fans gathered in online spaces to talk about the film and the book. Reading through these conversations, certain similarities became hard to ignore. What stood out was not the frequency of references to the film, but the way people described its impact on their own lives. Different voices returned to similar experiences: emotional shifts, personal reassessments, and the sense that something once left unexamined had come back into focus.
As a member of this community, I followed these discussions closely. Many of the posts went beyond the story itself. They reflected on identity, memory, and moments from the past that the film seemed to bring into sharper view — often without offering clear explanations or resolutions.
American fan Barb Mirell noticed the same responses while reading these accounts. As she later said:
“I found that this multi-layered film brought back a lot of repressed memories and had some people re-evaluating their lives.”
The responses eventually took shape as a collection of personal essays and reflections, edited by Mirell and published as How a Little Film Touched So Many Lives — a book shaped entirely by the voices of the community itself.
Here is one of the hundreds of moving stories in the book, from an American fan:
I have never been an emotive person. It takes a long time and a lot of trust for me show how I am really feeling. Because of this, I habe often been called “cold”, “heartless” and even asexual. I can’t count the number of times I’ve been told “you should smile more”. Some don’t understand that this lack of showing emotions doesn’t mean I don’t have any.
I can’t recall a time when I have cried during a film. Until Call Me by Your Name. I cried once during the theater showing, which was during the Dad’s speech, but who didn’t?
Repeated viewings of this movie made me cry multiple times throughout, which was highly unlikely for me to do.
What is it about this film and book that turned an emotionally repressed person into a puddle of tears? I can’t say for certain. Maybe it’s the beauty of the location. Italy is stunning on its own merit. Is it the idea of the perfect summer?
Sun, books, music, and fresh fruit. Who wouldn’t fall in love with that? Or could it be that I am Elio? I am him. I didn’t notice so much while watching the film. But reading the book in which we get more of the depth Elio’s thoughts, I discovered that he is me.
I’ve had all his thoughts myself. I’ve acted like him when attracted to someone.
I’m aloof, I act nonchalant, I shun away from physical interaction with said person.
I do all this in hopes that they will read my mind and reach out to me first. But that never happens. They always find someone else to love, marry and start a happy life…without me.
I suppose, these actions on my part are the reason I’m 36 years old and without a husband. I long ago made the life decision to not have children. For various reasons, I know (and always knew) that motherhood was not for me. However, I have not intentionally make the decision to be without a companion, a partner, a lover
I also did not make the decision to be attractes to both men and women. That’s something that just happened to me and you can’t choose who you are attracted to. One would think that being flexible about gender would increase the chance of finding love. Buti t has not expecting it.
For me, at this moment, love is like Call Me by You Name: beautiful, magical, ambiguous and completely fictional.
Experiences like this show how far the film reaches beyond its own story.
Featured image: How a Little Film Touched So Many Lives