Jonas

Other reviewers have pointed out flaws in this film. 9th grade is clearly inappropriate, and the new boy sequence is a worn-out cliche. In several respects, this film could have been more imaginatively conceived. However in a time when we are ever more concerned with mental health issues and their root causes, this film is an interesting exploration of deep trauma affecting psychological health in later life. I am not sure if Jonas wins through in the end, maybe he does, maybe he doesn't. Nonetheless, a moving story. For anyone who thinks that anti-gay sentiment in schools is a thing of the past, think again.

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.

It wasn't the happy, colourful film of teenage love I was lead to believe by the picture chosen to advertise it on Netflix, but it was a very interesting and rewarding story. I actually liked it, despite the complete lack of nudity.

The twinned stories surrounding the main character, Jonas are brought together brilliantly and I would have liked to have seen more of both, perhaps it could have been a two part film, because I think there was a lot more to say. Regardless of that it still worked very well and I thought it was directed tastefully and with care.

There were no stand out performances from anyone, because it's just not that kind of film. They are all exactly what the roles needed.

I did feel sorry for Jonas, nothing went right for him and I think that is something we can all relate to, as well as feel judged by.

I did miss one or two bits as I was on eBay looking for a Gameboy with Tetris!

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.

Hauntingly tragic story of young love and innocence broken.

Told from 2 time periods this sensitively told french movie tells of a night of tragedy that would forever leave a scar on our main protagonist Jonas. The director leaves it till the last few scenes for the viewer to put all the pieces together and then have us screaming for answers and resolutions that by the end credits we know are never going to come and we leave the movie, like all the characters, with a sense of hope, tinged with despair.