Jonas

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.

"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.

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.

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!