SEBASTIAN (2024) - Mark Reviews Movies

Sebastian, Kino Lorber

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Review by Mark Dujsik | August 1, 2024

The old adage is to write what you know, but how far should an author take that? That's one of the questions of Sebastian, the study of a 24-year-old London-based writer who begins freelancing as a sex worker in order to pen an authentic novel on the subject.

The bigger question, perhaps, is whether Max (Ruaridh Mollica) is playing a role, as an escort for—as it turns out—exclusively older men, or if there's something about the very real work that fulfills some need within him, beyond serving as material for a book. Writer/director Mikko Mäkelä digs into the protagonist's psychology in fascinating ways here, making the setup more than just an intriguing hook.

While on the job, Max calls himself "Sebastian." That's the name in his online profile on a website that caters to men who want to pay for a no-strings-attached sexual experience with an anonymous man. It's not just Max whose mind Mäkelä examines here. All of these clients have one or two things in common, too. They're decades older than Max, and they're trying to hide their sexuality from an open view to the rest of the world. Each one is also, in his own way, lonely and uncertain of something.

The first client, for example, is all nerves, sitting on his couch with "Sebastian" and trying to make small talk. The mood here is more vital than the content of the conversation, which stops as soon as "Sebastian" excuses himself, warms himself up in the bathroom (There's nothing sexy for him about these encounters—at first, at least), and returns to the uncomfortable man to help him get what, after all, he paid for from the escort.

After that, Mäkelä reveals the premise. Max returns to his own apartment and, recalling each and every word and beat and tone of the conversation and the sex that followed, transforms the encounter into a chapter of his novel. There's an obvious ethical quandary about Max's methods, which will reveal as much about these clients—who, if they're like the first guy, probably wouldn't want such an experience made public, even with a fake name (In the internet age, who knows what people might find out from a stray detail or two)—as himself.

Max clearly knows this, or else, he'd be honest with these men from the start or ask their permission after the fact. Max, however, isn't exactly an honest actor here in any part of his life—not just about living a double life and explaining to those he trusts with the manuscript how he gets his details so accurate, but also about himself.

He easily could have taken the route he claims to have taken in researching his novel—speaking with current and former sex workers about their experiences. Instead, he has set out to do the work himself, and based on what he says about those made-up interview subjects, Max doesn't feel a bit of shame or embarrassment when he's in the role of "Sebastian." In fact, he seems to get more than an ego-boosting thrill out of the job.

When he is Max, though, that's a completely different story. He wants to hide his side job, hesitating in putting any pictures of his face online or sending one to a potential client, and simply be the dedicated but overlooked writer, destined for the success and fame he believes he deserves, he sees himself as.

By day, Max works for a magazine's literature section, leading him to balance preparing for interviews with established authors and reviewing books with his moonlighting efforts. In his mind, this job is below him. He makes it known directly to his co-worker Amna (Hiftu Quasem), who starts to see through the complaints to the ego that feeds them, and indirectly by his failure to do his job in a timely manner.

That narcissistic edge to Max becomes a key component of his character, and Mäkelä and Mollica uncover it within both sides of the young man's double life. As the writer, he's resentful and jealous of the success of others, takes advice and criticism as the words of people who don't know better than him (even if they have far more experience and evidence of success), and refuses to even consider any work that he perceives as being beneath him.

As "Sebastian" in the other part of his life, we start to see that these escort jobs fuel his ego—being wanted for his appearance, even if he's not particularly attracted to those who desire him. Two men among the clients clearly do. One is Daniel (Ingvar Sigurdsson), a businessman with a family back home overseas who know nothing about his hidden sexuality, who wants to take "Sebastian" on trips. The ethical conundrum of Max's research eventually takes on a more tangible form in this relationship.

The other is Nicholas (Jonathan Hyde), a retired professor who simply wants the company and to be able to talk with someone. One of the more telling moments about Max comes following this perceived rejection of him, as he stares in the mirror at his own body, and after that, when the reflection shows him sobbing in the emptiness of himself.

In other words, Mäkelä has crafted a probing character study out of his gimmicky premise. Sebastian isn't afraid to take a critical look at its protagonist and his decisions to find what makes him tick, while the character goes through the same process to figure out who he is, what he actually wants, and whether or not he can reconcile these two aspects of the life he learns he needs to live.

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