Jonas

I was very impressed and moved by this film. It's just "small", I mean: just a few actors, a simple albeit poignant story, no big settings or effects. But it all fits perfectly, and the director effectively makes us jump forwards and backwards in the chronology of the story, to make us gradually aware of what happened in the past that has made the adult Jonas the complicated and almost self-destructive man he is.

The being gay of the main characters is not so much an issue here; although the scenes during high school at first seem to go in that way, it's basically about a teenage love as any other, so don't expect some coming-out movie. The main premise is having to live with an overpowering feeling of guilt and shame on account of some terrible incident that concerned the person on whom at that moment all your new and hopeful love was focused.

Adult Jonas is played by Félix Maritaud, I saw him recently in Sauvage (2018), and he is equally impressive here as a man tormented by his memories. But young Nicolas Bauwens as the teenage Jonas is just as impressive in his straining part and more than once moved me to tears.

The ending is rather abrupt but it fits the story and although nothing is actually stated that way, it does leave the impression of some redemption for Jonas, a hint at the start of a happier future.

The texture of the film kinda reminds me of Halt and Catch Fire. Jonas's seek for reconciliation with himself parallels with his search for his lover. Actually I don't think they went as far as lovers, and they were more like teenage crush, but his hallucination of Nathan is still poignant. It's more about how an incident in your teenage years, how some people at that time, are going to determine your emotional reaction to subsequent events in those years leading to your adulthood, even to your middle age. They are haunting you at the most nonchalant or irrelevant moment of your life.

First of all I won't spoil anything. "Jonas" is an incredible movie, with a story so thoroughly develop you won't want to miss it. The story develops on two timelines in a really clever way and the mystery is revealed in such a thought-out manner that honestly you'll stay glued to the screen. It's been a long while since I saw a movie developing and revealing the plot so well. As for the actors, their acting is wonderful. The younger actors as well play incredibly well. Nothing feels fake or rushed or inauthentic. It's really a movie you shouldn't miss!

Jonas is a clearly troubled 33-year-old gay man who drifts through life listlessly, seemingly haunted by something in his past. As the film opens he's being arrested for some sort of altercation in a gay bar. A sympathetic female cop recognizes him as a former classmate, and Jonas is drawn into memories of high school and meeting Nathan, the boy who would help him discover his sexuality and become his first love.

From there the plot skips between two parallel tracks as we follow his high school romance and watch his adult life disintegrate before his eyes. Soon we come to realize how strongly he clings to his past, until the two timelines meet head on and the event that has shaped his entire life is revealed.

This is a moving, emotionally charged drama, much higher quality than you'd ordinarily expect of a made-for-TV movie. The ending seems a bit rushed and abrupt - we'd like to spend a little more time exploring Jonas's feelings in both timelines after the big reveal and before the sweet-but-sad final scene - but this was likely due to TV time constraints, and in any event serves to demonstrate just how quickly life can take an unexpected turn. My only other complaint is that while the entire cast does an excellent job, Jonas, Nathan, and their classmates are way too old to be ninth graders. They could have easily been made two or three years older without changing a thing in the script; as is, it just looks wrong. The best bet for the English-speaking viewer is to simply assume there's a typo in the subtitles, the boys are really 17, and go from there.

Beautiful cinematography, admirable performances, bitter story, inspired storytelling, admirable performances. And a story about fall, secret and fight for survive. Almost a pretext for a touching portrait about ages and experiences of a young man in war with his past. It is one of films who could be defined as good or bad for the measure who you recognize parts of biography of yourself in its scenes. Because, at sin or virtue, it did not gives a specific story. Only embroidery of facts from past and consequances of present , without a clear connection. So, just a film who I love. First for great job of Felix Maritaud. Being subjectiv in profound sense.