Jonathan

Ansel Elgort's wonderful performance does appropriate honor to the ambiguity the movie is trucking in.

The movie, itself somewhat torn in sensibility, permits itself an easy out.

This intriguing and skillfully wrought indie science-fiction tale has the feel of a low-key "Black Mirror" episode.

The clinically distancing production never forms a meaningful bond with its audience.

Unfortunately, the film's structure works against our emotional involvement. The problem is that we see the story almost entirely from Jonathan's perspective.

The dichotomy represented by Jonathan and John is too clean for the film's exploration of a divided psyche to ever feel particularly complex.

Jonathan never goes much beyond its beginning, despite the unsurprising development of a struggle between the two consciousnesses.

Jonathan winds up being such a bore that its late-game competency doesn't carry it over the finish line.

By the final act, the execution can't match the ambition. There are too many unanswered questions, and the characters maintain a frustrating emotional distance.

This film is listed as a sci-fi, but it's more of a drama, resting on the back of a striking performance by Ansel Elgort. Jonathan is a rare and affecting fair.