Bonus Track

George Bobbin is a shy, underperforming teenager who hasn't quite found his way yet. What he does know is he loves music. Then along comes Max, the son of a famous rock duo who have just recently separated leaving Max to live with his mom in Yorkshire where he meets George at his new school. Maxs' captivating smile seems to immediately get George's attention while Max seems to be magnetically drawn to George. Max befriends George offering to help him with his musical desire to enter the end of year talent show. While both have music in common, they find that as their friendship grows their attraction to one another does as well. Relentlessly pursued by the ever intrusive press, Max makes the hard decision to move with his father in London far away from Yorkshire and George. George has to learn to step up for what he believes in, and break the shy nature he has grown so comfortable with.

Bonus Track is a fun, light-hearted romantic comedy that will leave you just a little bit obsessed with George and Max and they're budding romance. I found myself rewatching scenes that touched my heart and I think you will too. There's something so charming about Max, played by Samuel Small, that leaves you wanting to see him more. His confident demeanor is strong throughout the film until one scene when he shows his vulnerability making him that much more relatable. This will definitely be one of my favorite coming of age movies for years to come.

I liked the second half better, The first half I was suffering from second hand embarrassment so bad. George and his mom and his dad, all of them embarrassing to varying degrees, sometimes all at the same time.

Mark is more like a unicorn and this entire romance is a little idealized, well I suppose it's a teen romance of sorts, just like a lot of the straight ones are, where the cool guy notices the nerdy awkward girl and brings her out of her shell when nobody else saw the beauty and the potential in her. Only now it's with boys. There's some humour in there as well.

And good god I was confusing Jeffrey's actor with Steve Coogan. I was wondering how come he looks so young all of a sudden. Damn, it's Jack Davenport. I never noticed Josh O'Connor in there, I have no idea what character he played.

Just finished Bonus Track and honestly, I loved it. It's the kind of queer coming-of-age story that really gets under your skin in the best way-emotional, tender, and beautifully real. The chemistry between the two leads felt so natural and heartfelt, and the way the film handled identity, love, and self-expression was subtle but powerful. I could see parts of myself in the characters, especially in the quiet moments of vulnerability and longing. The cinematography was warm and intimate, and the soundtrack? Absolute perfection. Definitely one of those indie gems that stays with you after the credits roll. Highly recommend if you're into honest, beautifully told queer stories with heart.

Bonus Tracks (2024) Having gone into the film blind, there was no IMDb reviews at that point. I found a teen film based around two 16 year old boys, meeting with the pretext of helping the awkward and academically failing George, fall for the much cooler son of a musician Marvin.

George wants to leave school with something for his peers to remember him by, and he hopes that that will come at the school leavers show.

George enlists Marvin to help him with his keyboard ditty turning it into a upbeat pop singalong.

Think of Hugh Grant helping the socially awkward Marcus in "About A Boy" and you get the idea.

Its a strange film very badly cast with all of the 16 years kids, looking so much older, I'd guess the average age must be about 25 years old. Even Marvin wears a brace to make him look younger. It is an embarrassing mess of a film. Saying that if you were a teenager in 2006 the music will connect.

A poor 4/10

PS What was more annoying was my cinema treat of buying Cadbury's Crunchie Rocks only to discover that it only contained 15% honeycomb delight and 15% corn flakes, why call if Crunchie if it only contains 15% , Cadbury's hang your head in shame.

In small town 2005-6, George is in his last year of high school, and dreams of being a music star. However, he has failing grades, including music class, where he can only plunk out the same few notes that will form the rhythm track of his barely-started song. He holds out hope of being noticed at the year-end Leavers' Talent Show, though a kindly teacher warns him that, after the show, he will be leaving.

Along comes new student Max, son of a famous music duo (who recently separated, both professional and marital). Even if faulty, Max's rendition of a piano sonata is far above George's efforts. Despite being mobbed by girls, Max has his eye on George, and they work on his song together. While on an overnight trip to a challenge camp, Max gets George to sneak out with him to drink and have a kiss - which is captured by a paparazzo, making them big local news.

Max decides to leave for London, where he could be lost in the crowd, leaving George to perform alone at the Talent Show.

This film has an interesting concept of being divided up into "tracks", each part introduced with a different song. With his disinterest in them, the girls at school has already pegged George as gay, while lesser experience with Max means he is still not typecast - until the photo comes out. As the audience, we are waiting to see if the Bromance becomes something more.