Jonathan

One of films who I love . Maybe, because, as schizoid person, I am not real far by the world of Jonathan. Or maybe because it is fascinating the manner to use the basic idea. A profound delicate subject and a seductive exploration of a dark and not comfortable universe. A film proposing only questions and no answers. Impecable acting and great story. A film about loneliness , with a precise target, in clothes of Sci . F., trip across a life who is not so different and who, in fact, represents, with the few nuances, the rule more than the exception. "Jonathan" is a great film not for the artistic and technical aspects but for the state after its end.

Jonathan (Ansel Elgort) is a buttoned up reserved guy. He wakes up at 7am everyday and watches a video of a doppelganger who seems to be a much more relaxed version of himself. He goes to work at an architecture firm and visits Dr. Mina Nariman (Patricia Clarkson) who is treating him for an unknown condition. He always goes to sleep early in the afternoon. One day, he runs into Elena (Suki Waterhouse) on the streets. She claims to know him at night which reveals the shocking truth.

The premise is intriguing and it holds its mystery well for the first act. I was thinking clones or twins. Spoilers, it's not. I actually like the reveal. It's setup for something tense. I want the paranoia. I want the distrust. It gets delivered but not in a satisfying way. So much of this movie is one guy watching the other on video that it drains the intensity out of the flow. I also want real action and tension in the plot. Once the reveal happens, the movie's intensity slowly slides down. I like some of the ideas but this needs more to appeal to a bigger audience.

I have always been intrigued by Disassociative Identity Disorder. I've read a couple autobiographies and found most of how this movie portrayed the disorder to be true to what I know of it. But I loved the twist, pulling in a little bit of future technology (sci-fi) Into the story. I thought this was well written and definitely well acted. I look forward to what else the writer/director does in the future! As a movie it's definitely not action packed and might be considered slow buy some. It kept my attention because you thought you knew the direction it was going to go but it definitely took a couple unexpected turns. I was moved by the ending and felt it fit the story perfectly as well as feeling realistic.

This beautiful little film might best be described as an interesting new take on the Narcissus myth, with an impressive central performance by Ansel Elgort. Both stylish and moving, this small scale story raises questions about the nature of desire, compassion, self-reflexivity and unconventional love.

It's not that often that I don't really know what to think about a movie. The technical part is really enjoyable. The synopsis strange and mysterious. We enter little by little, day to day, in the reality of Jonathan and we understand very slowly what this reality means. It's dark. But not really sad. It's complex. The movie doesn't try to simplify or over explain it, which is great. But also left me with too much questioning to be at ease. I don't know if the ending is great and really smart, or a bit dull. I don't know. And it's fine.

And perhaps this movie is great because of this: it leaves you with more questions than answers.