Christophe Charrier’s coming-of-age thriller wraps the viewer in a profoundly moving, powerful story of individual healing and painful acceptance as the adult Jonas faces the ghosts of his past and a love that haunts his every waking moment. I Am Jonas is streaming now on Netflix.
In a gas station car park circa 1997, fifteen-year-old Jonas (Nicolas Bauwens) sits quietly playing on his Gameboy while his dad is in the store – as he waits, the catchy earworm of the “Tetris” tune cuts through the silence. However, as the battery on his Gameboy fades, Jonas finds his attention drifting to the darkest corners of the gas station lot, where a boy suddenly appears at the car door before being dragged into the darkness. Jonas screams out in fear as blood runs from his nose before his dad returns, unaware of the horror he has witnessed.
We then jump forward to the present day as the adult Jonas, Félix Maritaud, glides through life alone, troubled by a past he cannot face – his only security, the ageing Gameboy he holds close at all times.
Christophe Charrier’s coming-of-age thriller wraps the viewer in a profoundly moving, powerful story of individual healing and painful acceptance as the adult Jonas faces the ghosts of his past and a love that haunts his every waking moment. Jonas is an exquisite tale of first love, grief and guilt that is both haunting and heartbreaking, and its powerful narrative of love and loss is held aloft by the outstanding performances of Maritaud and Bauwens.
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