Welcome To Movie Recall. In Today's video, we will be going through the 2018 Sci-Fi film
: “Jonathan”.
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In his living room, a young man named Jonathan records a video for his brother, recounting
details of his day. He mentions a few details, including a new coworker and the dinner he
left in the fridge. He notes that he has been feeling tired today, which he finds odd. Jonathan
ends the video by asking his brother if he's feeling the same way. Jonathan then goes to
bed at three in the afternoon. At seven in the morning the next day, Jonathan wakes up
on the other bed in his room. He watches a video recorded by his brother, John, who looks
exactly like him. John claims that he's been feeling tired too and wonders why since he's
been going to bed early, which Jonathan doubts. John encourages Jonathan to pursue his new
female coworker before ending the video. Later that day, Jonathan undergoes a test with Dr.
Nariman. The doctor mentions a drift in his consciousness shift, which they quickly fix.
She assures him that his tiredness is normal as he's getting older. At work, Jonathan receives
praise for his latest work as a draftsman. His boss, Hans, wants to put him on a bigger
project, but his time constraint forces him to refuse. The next day, John sympathizes
with him about giving up his dream project. John shares his frustrations about their limited
time, but he points out a silver lining that their combined accomplishments will be more
than most people's. This makes Jonathan smile. While cleaning up, Jonathan finds a napkin
from The Rialto in John's pants. During his recording, he scolds John for not doing the
laundry. He brings up the napkin from The Rialto and asks if they're feeling tired because
John has been going to bars late at night. The next day, he sees that John is angry about
his accusation. He reasons that he and his coworker, Tom, only went to the bar one night
to talk about Tom's failed relationship. Still, Jonathan is frustrated and investigates. After
work, he goes to The Rialto, where the bartender, Myles, immediately recognizes him as John.
Myles tells him that "she's" not in yet, but he'll tell her that he stopped by. Jonathan
tells him not to so that he can surprise her. The revelation that John is seeing a girl
behind his back angers Jonathan. One day, Jonathan meets with a private investigator,
Ross. Ross inquires about his condition, but Jonathan avoids the question. Ross has documented
Jonathan's movements, which follow a strict routine. He works two part-time jobs: in the
architecture firm in the morning, then as a clerk at a law firm in the evening. However,
he left work early on a Friday night and went to The Rialto bar, where his girlfriend, Elena,
works. After the bar closed, he and Elena spent the night at her home until 5:50 am.
Learning this, Jonathan starts stalking Elena while pretending that everything is normal
in his videos. One day, Elena spots him. Thinking that he's John, she kisses him before leaving.
The next day, Jonathan sees that John is pissed about not knowing that he and Elena met. John
admits to liking Elena before ending the video. Jonathan tries to calm himself before recording
his response to John, accusing him of lying to him first. The next day, John excuses that
his relationship with Elena just happened, and he didn't mention it since he knew Jonathan
would disapprove. Jonathan agrees, pointing out that having a girlfriend is against their
rules. Jonathan wants John to break up with Elena, but John refuses. Jonathan tells him
to explain to Elena about their condition. Otherwise, he will. Defeated, John promises
to tell Elena the truth. The next day, Jonathan wakes up on the floor, seeing liquor on the
coffee table and the camera still on. Exasperated, he replays the video and sees that John passed
out drunk while recording. Before passing out, John admits that he couldn't tell Elena
the truth, so he broke up with her instead. Jonathan coldly turns the video off and cleans
up, unaffected by John's sadness. Then, someone knocks on the door. Hesitantly, Jonathan opens
the door and finds Elena. Inside, Jonathan explains that he's John's brother. Jonathan
tries to get her to leave, but instead, Elena dials John's phone, hearing it buzz inside
Jonathan's pocket. Infuriated, Jonathan finally reveals the truth. He and John are brothers
living in the same body. Jonathan is active from 7 in the morning to 7 in the evening;
then, John is conscious for the rest of the evening. Unconvinced, Elena storms out. Jonathan
records a video explaining how Elena came to their apartment. He's angry at John for
breaking the rules but assures him that Elena won't return. He pleads to have things back
to normal. The next day, Jonathan wakes up, glad that he's in bed as if everything is
back to normal. But when he checks tape from the video camera, there's no new entry from
John. Four days later, John still hasn't recorded
a video for Jonathan. Jonathan brings this up to Dr. Nariman, who understands that John
is angry and can't be forced to talk to him again. She advises him to give John some time.
Dr. Nariman tells him that the brothers may need time apart to allow them to explore life
away from each other. The notion has Jonathan conflicted.
Jonathan continues life normally, recording his videos to John and even preparing dinner
for him. He mentions Dr. Nariman's idea of letting them have time apart, but Jonathan
insists they can't do that, given their situation. The following day, he wakes up and finds that
John didn't eat the dinner he had prepared for him. Out of options, Jonathan visits Elena
and hands her a magazine to prove his and John's condition. Elena scoffs at it, but
Jonathan insists on telling her their story. They wouldn't stop crying when they were a
baby, leading to their mother abandoning them at the hospital. No one could figure out what
was wrong with them until Dr. Nariman found them. She was the one who discovered their
split personalities and began treating them. Jonathan points out the mole-like device behind
his ear, which keeps them separated and have equal time. Jonathan is concerned about John
and begs her to record a message to convince him to communicate with Jonathan again. That
evening, Jonathan puts a note on his phone for John to play Elena's video. The next day,
however, there's still no recording from John. At work, Jonathan's new coworker, Allison,
invites him to lunch, but he refuses. She asks him about his sick dad, whom she and
the rest of their coworkers believe is the reason why Jonathan can only work part-time.
Jonathan admits that he is having problems with his brother, which Allison empathizes
with. Jonathan continues to plead for John to communicate back to him, but days go by
without a word from John. He ends up cleaning after John, who's not doing any of his usual
chores. Jonathan admits to missing John, but he still doesn't get a response. One day,
Elena visits Jonathan at their apartment to give him the magazine back. Jonathan awkwardly
invites her to lunch, where they discuss John. Elena met John when he came with Tom to the
bar. Hoping to cheer up Tom, he started telling stories that made everyone at the bar laugh.
Jonathan explains that he and John are not supposed to have girlfriends to maintain their
responsibility to each other. Elena wonders how they enjoy intimacy, and Jonathan hesitantly
claims that they're allowed to do it without emotional attachment. Elena wonders why John
didn't just tell her the truth, and Jonathan assumes that John didn't want to scare her
away. Throughout the day, Jonathan can't stop thinking about Elena. He starts texting her
and even takes her to his workplace. Jonathan admits to inviting her there since he's never
shown off his work to someone else before. Later, Jonathan records a video for John but
doesn't mention his budding friendship with Elena.
Over the next few days, Jonathan and Elena spend more time together. At first, they meet
to talk about John, but eventually, they start sharing more about themselves. Elena invites
Jonathan to her apartment, where they watch a French movie. He loses track of time and
hurries back to his apartment before John's turn to be active. He considers recording
a video for John but decides not to. Jonathan switches the camera on the following day while
getting ready for work. To his surprise, John's video starts playing. John got worried that
he didn't make a recording last night, so he's leaving a message for the first time
in a while. He recounts how he wandered around downtown while listening to music until a
lady pulled him back into the sidewalk, preventing him from getting hit by a cab. The encounter
had him thinking about their mother. With these thoughts, John finally forgives Jonathan
and apologizes for not talking to him sooner. Jonathan visits Elena and tells her that John
talked to him again. Jonathan is glad that John forgave him, but this means he can't
see Elena anymore to avoid breaking his brother's trust. Thinking that it's their last time
together, Elena kisses him. Jonathan nervously moves away and admits that he hasn't slept
with a woman before. Elena smiles and gently initiates intimacy with him.
Later that day, Jonathan records a video for John and admits to having his first intimate
experience but lies that it was with Allison. The next day, John congratulates Jonathan
on the experience. He also shares about a security guard job that he wants to take for
a change of pace and avoid any distractions. At work, Jonathan asks Hans if he can work
on the West Side Tower project by extending an hour of work on weekdays and doing shifts
on weekends. Hans is hesitant about the conditions, but knowing Jonathan's potential, he agrees.
At Dr. Nariman's office, she notices that Jonathan is more relaxed. Jonathan shares
his excitement over his new project and is considering taking art classes. He reveals
that he and John are back to their routine, and Dr. Nariman is glad, considering that
it's not safe for them not to communicate. In John's next video, he looks sad. Tom is
getting married to his ex-girlfriend, but John can't go to the wedding, given that it's
during Jonathan's time. His new security job leaves him alone, with no one to talk to.
This makes John feel lonely. Later, Jonathan spends time with Elena, who's worried that
their relationship is still about John. The couple confesses their genuine affection for
each other and agrees to keep it a secret. One day, Jonathan wakes up in someone else's
home, next to another woman. He checks the mirror and finds a bruise on his face. When
he gets home, he watches John's video. John mentions meeting a stranger who asked about
his relationship with Elena. The stranger was Ross, who got into a fight with John and
revealed that Jonathan had Ross follow him. With no time to deal with the issue, Jonathan
hurries to the office, bearing the bruise on his face. But Jonathan leaves the office
after realizing that he left his files at home. Allison checks in on him, and he tries
to make up an excuse about the bruise. Later, Jonathan reveals to Elena that he was worried
about John enjoying life too much. When they were nine years old, they had a third brother
who prevented them from functioning properly. Dr. Nariman removed the third brother, and
Jonathan was worried that John would ask him to be removed to have a normal life with Elena.
After coming home, Jonathan records his apology about hiring Ross. He confesses that he was
jealous of how John took life easily and was afraid that John wouldn't love him if he found
someone else. The next day, John assures him that no one can replace him in his life. He
acknowledges that it's also his fault for not telling him about Elena in the first place.
Before leaving for work, Jonathan looks for his earphones and finds John's medicine for
depression. He confronts Dr. Nariman about this, who assures him that the medicine shouldn't
affect Jonathan. Jonathan wonders if John is depressed over his new job, which isolates
him from people. He's worried that he caused John's depression, leading him to confess
to Dr. Nariman about Elena. Dr. Nariman notes how Jonathan had always been interested in
the women John had been with, but Jonathan insists that he's truly in love with Elena.
Dr. Nariman, however, believes that seeing John's ex-girlfriend is Jonathan's way of
being physically connected with him. She advises him to confess to John.
That afternoon, Jonathan records his confession to John but eventually deletes it, fearing
how he'd react. Instead, he records a new video, pretending that everything is normal.
However, Jonathan finds his office ruined with graffiti on his desk, calling him a liar
the next day. The security footage has his coworkers believe that he did it; thus, he
gets fired. Jonathan confronts Dr. Nariman, who told John about Elena. When Jonathan tells
her that John broke into his office, Dr. Nariman expresses concern over John. Jonathan is frustrated
that Dr. Nariman always favored his brother. However, she defends that she takes the side
of whoever is right, and in this situation, she understands John's anger. Dr. Nariman
also talked to Elena, who left a voicemail for Jonathan. Elena breaks up with Jonathan,
believing that Dr. Nariman is right that their situation is wrong. Jonathan grieves over
losing both his job and his love. He finally records a confession to John, excusing that
he was lonely when John refused to talk to him. Jonathan apologizes but curses at John
for getting him fired. The following day, Jonathan wakes up and sees
Dr. Nariman watching over him. John cut their wrists and called her for help last night.
To fix the situation, Dr. Nariman invites Jonathan to her house to watch over them.
While looking at childhood photos, they reminisce about simpler times. Jonathan thanks her for
giving them their first home. Jonathan records a video on his phone for
John. He first tries to keep things light but then genuinely apologizes to John for
what he did. He asks him to do what Dr. Nariman says so that things will work out between
them again. The next day, Dr. Nariman reveals that John wants to be removed, but Jonathan
refuses. She explains that John tried to adapt to Jonathan's routine, but in the end, this
made him feel isolated. Jonathan mentions waking up minutes later than usual, which
means their shared time is shifting. Dr. Nariman promises to fix this.
Alone, Jonathan ponders over their lives and imagines how John leads his. The thoughts
keep him up, so he approaches Dr. Nariman while she prepares dinner. Dr. Nariman confesses
that she worries about John since he's only active during the night. She's been staying
up late at night so that John wouldn't be alone. Hearing this, Jonathan is up until
his consciousness finally shifts at 7 in the evening. The next day, Jonathan wakes up under
a bridge. On his phone, John recorded a video where he threatened to kill himself if Jonathan
doesn't agree to remove him. However, Jonathan is adamant about keeping his brother. He purchases
cuffs with a coded lock to restrain John while he's active. This works, as John cannot open
the lock. Jonathan goes to purchase items at a shop,
but he stops and leaves without buying the items. He then walks around the city, all
confused until he finally realizes what's happening. He runs to their apartment to put
on the cuffs but blacks out before he can. He wakes up, finding the apartment in ruins,
then suddenly he sees himself on the rooftop of their building. He rushes back to the bedroom
again but blacks out before restraining himself. Unable to keep his consciousness intact, he
removes the device behind his ear and falls unconscious afterward.
When he wakes up, Dr. Nariman runs tests on him and promises him that they won't remove
either brother. Days after, Jonathan asks how John is, and Dr. Nariman promises that
he's okay. She explains that John is pushing into his shifts, but not on purpose. Given
their tests, Dr. Nariman concludes that John was thriving in life and didn't truly want
to die. Instead, Jonathan is the one who truly wants to disappear due to his guilt. This
is why John's consciousness is taking over. Hearing this, Jonathan wants to go home and
spend time with John for as long as possible. Jonathan blacks out again at home and wakes
up in a cab with a suitcase next to him. The cab driver tells him that they're heading
to J.F.K. airport. After waking up from another blackout, Jonathan asks the driver to pull
over at the beach. Jonathan rushes to watch the sunset then blacks out again. Through
the driver, John asks Jonathan if he's in pain, but Jonathan assures him that he's not.
John is glad that it isn't painful, and Jonathan hugs the driver, accepting his fate. Jonathan
says goodbye to John, expressing his happiness that they shared bodies.
John wakes up and receives Jonathan's farewell. John continues his trip to J.F.K., this time
without shifting back into Jonathan.
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