Jonas

"TV movie" conjures up all manner of negative judgements for me. I may need to revisit that because if I'd "gone with my head" on this, I wouldn't have watched this and I'd have missed out sorely.

This is quality. A really interesting story that touches you. Superb direction and all of the actors are so natural that I wanted more, so much more.

That moment when the two timelines get linked was a 'whoa' moment for me.

I must single out Félix Maritaud as Jonas for some fantastic acting but to a greater extent Nicolas Bauwens as young Jonas. He's effortless in the role. I hope to see him in many more films.

This is a movie that I wish I hadn't seen, for the simple reason that I wish I could get to enjoy it all over again for the first time!

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.

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!

A powerful coming of age story with a French taste. Jonas (2018) is a TV movie that can beat at least thousands of other movies for the big screen. Its qualities such as depth, a good, mysterious story that slowly unfolds in front of your eyes, and of course our homo problems, that are waiting to be cleared off on a very long queue this time hit you straight in the heart without any superficiality. The characters are true to life and there isn't stereotyping but pure acting as it should be. The movie operates with flashbacks exploring the youth and current days of Jonas, now a troubled 33-year-old guy who's just been thrown out from his boyfriend, because of cheating. The missing segments start to make sense as the movie progress in a perfect aka "Weekend" cinematography. It will make you think about a few of your crushes most probably as it is a very intimate film. A must see!