Jonathan (2018)

Movie Name/Year: Jonathan (2018)

Genre: Drama, Sci-fi

Length: 100 minutes

Rating: TV-MA

Production/Distribution: Manis Film, Raised by Wolves, Kinostar Filmverleih, Presidio, Well Go USA Entertainment, Front Row Filmed Entertainment

Director: Bill Oliver

Writer: Gregory Davis, Peter Nickowitz, Bill Oliver

Actors: Ansel Elgort, Suki Waerhouse, Patricia Clarkson, Matt Bomer, Douglas Hodge, Souleymane Sy Savane, Shunori Ramanathan, Joe Egender, Ian Unterman, Alok Tewari

Blurb from IMDb: Jonathan leaves the office everyday at noon. When he gets home, he goes to sleep. Every morning he wakes up and there is a breakfast prepared for him along with a video telling him about the second part of his day.

Selina’s Point of View:

I found the concept of Jonathan fascinating. The moment I heard of it, I was looking forward to seeing it. However, we’ve seen a few films recently that haven’t lived up to their potential. When we have a streak like that, it’s hard to keep an open mind going into the next movie.

In this case, however, I think Jonathan absolutely lived up to what I wanted it to be.

I absolutely understand that this won’t be everyone’s cup of tea. It’s very heavy on the drama – with not much else to fall back on. Even I don’t tend to like that kind of thing, but there are always exceptions and this is one of them.

I loved the use of jump-cuts to show the transformation from one version of John to the other. It was jarring at times, but it was meant to be.

Throughout the film we see only one perspective, and that character lives in a state where he’s used to losing time. We not only see his point-of-view, but the editing ensures that we feel it as well. We actively live with his disorder for an hour and a half.

It’s just as fascinating as I hoped it would be.

Personally, I would have preferred a slightly different ending, but there was nothing wrong with the conclusion they went with. I just would have gone a different route. It doesn’t affect the quality of the film at all.

I would highly recommend Jonathan.

Rotten Tomatoes Critic Score – 65%

Rotten Tomatoes Audience Score – 54%

Metascore – 62/100

Metacritic User Score – 4.6/10

IMDB Score – 5.9/10

CinemaScore – None

Trust the Dice: Selina’s Rating – 4.5/5

Movie Trailer: