I Am Jonas

I Am Jonas is a French coming of age gay-themed movie released in 2018 and directed by Christophe Charrier. The film is also known as Boys and Jonas.

I Am Jonas
Film poster
Directed by	Christophe Charrier
Written by	Christophe Charrier
Produced by	Sandrine Brauer Marie Masmonteil
Starring	Félix Maritaud Nicolas Bauwens Tommy-Lee Baïk
Cinematography	Pierre Baroin
Edited by	Stéphanie Dumesnil
Music by	Alex Beaupain
Production companies	Arte En Compagnie des Lamas
Release date	28 August 2018 (2018-08-28) (Dekkoo)
Running time	82 minutes
Country	France
Language	French

Plot

The plot is written in chronological order while the movie switches continuously between present and past.

It is 1997. Fifteen-year-old Jonas does not really have friends at school. When the school year starts, there is a new pupil in his class: Nathan, who immediately takes Jonas under his wing and they become friends. Nathan has a Nintendo Game Boy and teaches Jonas how to play Tetris and eventually gives him the console as a gift. The two fall in love and start a relationship. Jonas is allowed by his parents to spend the weekend at Nathan's house. Nathan's mother is heavily pregnant and has already chosen a name for the child: Léonard. She drives the boys to a movie theatre, and on the ride they pass an amusement park called Magic World. Mother reveals to Jonas that Nathan got the scar on his face after an incident at the bumper cars, although Nathan had earlier told Jonas that it was caused by an attack of a pedophile priest. At the end of the movie they just watched, Nathan turns on his mobile phone and hears a message left by his mother: she went into hospital to give birth. Instead of going to the hospital, they go to Boys, a local gay bar. As the minimum age is eighteen years they are not allowed in. This is noticed by a man who has an idea: he will bring the boys to another gay bar where there is no age limit. They get in his car but soon Nathan gets suspicious as the ride takes too long and the boys plead with the driver to let them out. The driver punches Nathan and knocks him out. Jonas pulls up the handbrake and is able to escape. The car drives away with a closeup of Nathan – still in the car – and Jonas not knowing whether he is alive or dead.

Cast

• Félix Maritaud – Jonas Cassetti (adult)
• Nicolas Bauwens – Jonas Cassetti (adolescent)
• Tommy-Lee Baïk – Nathan
• Aure Atika – Nathan's mother
• Marie Denarnaud – Jonas' mother
• Pierre Cartonnet – Jonas' father
• Ilian Bergala – Léonard
• Ingrid Granziani – Caroline Rivasso (adult)
• Édith Saulnier – Caroline Rivasso (adolescent)
• David Baiot – Samuel

Release and reception

The film was originally released as Boys on the streaming platform Dekkoo in August 2018. It was then screened as Jonas at the Festival de la fiction TV de La Rochelle in September, where it won three awards, including Best TV Movie. In November 2018, it was broadcast on French TV channel Arte, attracting over 1,12 million viewers. It subsequently premiered on Netflix under its final title, I Am Jonas.

On review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 100% based on six reviews, with an average rating of 7.7/10. Writing for The Guardian, André Wheeler described the film as a "dark, atmospheric [and] delightful slow-burn".

External links

• I Am Jonas at IMDb