Bonus Track (film)

Bonus Track is a 2023 British musical coming-of-age romantic comedy film directed by Julia Jackman, in her feature directorial debut, based on an original story by Josh O'Connor, who also appears in the film, and Mike Gilbert, who wrote the screenplay.

Bonus Track
Directed by	Julia Jackman
Screenplay by	Mike Gilbert
Story by	Josh O'Connor Mike Gilbert
Produced by	Stephanie Aspin Helen Simmons Campbell Beaton
Starring	Joe Anders Samuel Small
Cinematography	Jonas Mortensen
Edited by	Jason Rayton
Music by	Chris Hyson
Production companies	Erebus Pictures Screen Yorkshire Lunapark Pictures Quickfire Films Fortune Films
Release dates	5 October 2023 (2023-10-05) (LFF) 1 June 2024 (2024-06-01)
Running time	98 minutes
Country	United Kingdom
Language	English

Premise

In 2006, George Bobbin, a 16-year-old who lives in a small English town and dreams of becoming a pop star, meets Max, the son of a famous musical duo.^[1][2]

Cast

• Joe Anders as George Bobbin
• Samuel Small as Max
• Jack Davenport as Jeffrey, George's father
• Alison Sudol as Julia, George's mother
• Susan Wokoma
• Ray Panthaki as Mr Zeppelin
• Josh O'Connor
• Nina Wadia
• Ellie Kendrick
• Josh Cowdery

Production

Filming was underway in York on 17 August 2022, when the film was announced.^[3] The School featured is All Saints Catholic School, in York.

Release

Bonus Track was selected to screen for potential buyers in the Industry Selects section at the 2023 Toronto International Film Festival in September 2023.^[2] It premiered at the 2023 BFI London Film Festival on 5 October 2023.^[4][5]

Sky pre-bought the United Kingdom and Germany rights.^[3] The film was released on Sky Cinema on 1 June 2024 in the UK.^[6] In July 2024, it was reported that Sunrise Films had acquired US rights and was planning a theatrical and digital release in October.^[7]

Reception

Nikki Baughan of Screen Daily found the film laden with teenage romantic comedy clichés, and the 2006 setting "not entirely realistic", but wrote that "two charming lead performances, and a largely positive depiction of adolescent homosexuality ... should chime with its intended teen audience".^[8] Peter Bradshaw of The Guardian found the film "sweet-natured and engagingly laid-back, if a bit televisual and reliant on that time-honoured staple that dates from Richard Curtis's Love Actually", giving it three out of five stars.^[9]