Director Mikko Mäkelä’s second feature, Sebastian, is a piercing, explicit, and oftentimes sexy study of one 25-year-old’s search for identity in a world that has discouraged him from accepting all of himself unabashedly. In the shimmery, rain-soaked streets of London, Max is living a double life. During the day, he’s a writing student freelancing for a prominent culture magazine, bullish in the way only good writers are. At night, Max goes by the name Sebastian on the escort site Dreamy Boys, visiting clients to earn some extra cash.
Max uses these experiences as a sex worker as material for his writing, presenting his encounters as fiction to his agent and fellow writers. Soon, though, the lines between Max and Sebastian, reality and fantasy, fiction and non-fiction begin to blur. The entire movie hinges on Rauridh Mollica’s searing performance as Max. The actor splits himself in two: Max is confident to a fault, bucking against his agent’s notes when they don’t align with the vision for his debut novel, but disregarding his friend’s work when they ask for feedback.
Sebastian, on the other hand, is green. It’s hard to tell at first, but it quickly becomes clear that he’s new to sex work — his confidence only comes when it’s clear how much a client is invested in him. Only then can he feel comfortable stripping down and bearing it all.
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Sebastian Is An Unflinching Examination Of Queer Intimacy
Max hides behind the facade of fiction, exploring Sebastian’s exploits openly in his writing workshops. When asked by his classmates and friends how his portrayal of sex work is so real, Max cites research and interviews. This disassociation is for various reasons — Max doesn’t want his side job to affect his chances of becoming a notable writer, but there is a layer of shame that lingers, too. Even with his closest friend, he shies away from discussions of sex and, when he meets a boy at a club, he makes sure his friend is occupied before initiating contact.
Any attempts at intimacy by peers — whether friends or lovers — are rebuked. It’s only when the intimacy is transactional that Max can open himself up. Sebastian‘s depiction of modern sex work is never exploitative, even as it leaves room for Max to have complicated feelings about it. Like Max himself, though, Sebastian takes many forms and its sweetest may be in its depiction of a relationship between Max and one of his clients (Jonathan Hyde). It’s through this connection that Max reckons with his need to keep both identities separate, and his desires for love and validation.
Sebastian Is Just As Incisive About The Literary World As It Is About Max’s Sex Life
Sebastian is just as concerned about the literary world as it is about Max’s personal life, and it’s just as cutting in its depiction. Early on, Max is slated to interview Bret Easton Ellis, an author known for blurring fiction and autobiography. The reference is on the nose, but it works. As Max continues his sex work, the line between his two realities shifts. How much of his writing influences his behavior, and how much does his behavior change his story? It’s a tricky tightrope to walk, one that ends in an encounter that leaves Max in another country.
It’s this experience that forces Max to come to terms with the double life he’s been living and, thanks to Mollica, every moment is infused with heart-wrenching emotion. The search for intimacy in today’s digital landscape often feels laborious, if not downright humiliating. Combine that with the self-consciousness of a writer, the anonymity of a big city, and the weight of navigating queerness as a young person, and it’s a bit of a mess. That mess can often lead to beauty and that’s exactly what happens in Sebastian, with a stirring finish that won’t be easily forgotten.
Sebastian is a 2024 drama film written and directed by Mikko Makela that debuted at the Sundance Film Festival. The film follows a young writer working on his first original novel while living in London but decides to delve into the world of sex work under a new name to explore his subject material further.
- Release Date
- January 21, 2024
- Director
- Mikko Makela
- Cast
- Ruaridh Mollica , Hiftu Quasem , Ingvar Sigurdsson , Jonathan Hyde , Lara Rossi , Leanne Best
- Runtime
- 110 Minutes
- Writers
- Mikko Makela
