I Am 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.

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.

"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!

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.

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!