Film Review: Jonathan Asks “Are You Withering Or Thriving?”
Ansel Elgort is the heart of a film about two minds living in one body. Jonathan/ Jon divide their consciousness with 12 hours given to each one so as to make a life. The sci-fi thriller is not really “sci-fi” or thriller. It is more a character study on how well you can hold together two different lives.
In perspective, one person cannot hold two lives, but Jonathan has a clinical condition. He is literally sharing a body with his twin brother: Jon. Elgort gives Jonathan a prim, proper, and promising demeanor. He is beloved at his architectural firm, lauded for his youthful responsibility, and clearly living a clean, healthy lifestyle every day. Yet, when Jon comes out at 7pm, the danger begins. Meanwhile Elgort makes Jon chill, yet brash, charming yet, volatile, passionate yet unclear. He is, certainly, not as emotionally or physically put together as Jonathan. It is as if Jonathan maintains their stability during the day so that Jon can tear it up at night. Still, this “ying yang” dynamic works, and, in the end, both agree that they were happy for a time. Yet, you cannot be happy for long without sharing yourself.
In Jonathan, each has their job, their friends, their activities, but, in typical fashion, it is love throws their equilibrium into imbalance. It is not like Elena (Suki Waterhouse) is the Yoko Ono that broke Jon/ Jonathan. If anything her entrance in the film is like the straw that broke the camel’s back, but these brothers never knew there was a back to break. All their frustrations and curiosities of what the other was doing with his time was maintained on trust and videos one left for the other. Yet, as Jonathan starts to get tired and feels as if his twin is picking even less of his weight, he investigates to Jon has fallen in love; a massive breaking of their contract. For them, the only way they could survive and thrive is if they did not share their heart with anyone but themselves. Yet, love is not just a figurative danger; it is a literal one.
With Dr. Mina Nariman (Patricia Clarkson) on hand, Jonathan tries to uncover why he is losing time. He can no longer keep his 12 hour shift; with Jon growing moodier, meaner, and even violent at not being able to have more control or rather connection in his life. Not only are Jonathan/Jon isolated, they are not really independent. If your life needs to have a rigid, unbreakable schedule to function then it, eventually, will combust. You cannot both live and not live in the world, especially when life is so spontaneous. The minute Jonathan tries to know Elena, Jon loses it! He not only wants to have a fuller life; he wants to have his own one, of which writer and director Bill Oliver elevates the film by making it a question over how we define living.
Are you thriving or are you withering? That is the ultimate question. Jonathan is seen as “thriving” by being the good guy with no deep, rich human connections beyond Jon or his doctor. Meanwhile Jon is filled with sentiments but “withering” in terms of focus and determination. Jonathan, materially, has his life together, but spiritually that is questionable. He is simply going through life, while Jon wants to embody it. As the film progresses, you feel the inevitable coming. One wants routine while the other wants adventure. One wants acquaintances while the other wants friends. One wants a pure, healthy lifestyle, while the other is ready to party. The clashes were there from the beginning, but as Jon’s passions to live keep rising, it takes a physical toll.
The beauty of this film is that, though these brothers never meet and even sabotage each other, there is a great love between them. It is fascinating to watch Jon and Jonathan push each other through one body, yet care and ask for the other through split consciousness. In some ways, Jonathan is symbolic of how you can love two lives but you cannot keep them. Eventually, we have to make a choice over who we want to be, and, in that choice, we will end up losing someone we loved. Jonathan Comes Out In Theater November 16.
