By Amanda Gilmore
Finnish-British Writer-Director Mikko Mäkelä delivers this riveting character study of 25-year-old writer Max (Ruaridh Mollica) who currently works as a freelancer at a popular magazine in London and has multiple short stories under his belt. Now writing his debut novel, he begins living a double life as a sex worker for research.
There have been many movies about Sex Workers over the years. For the most part, those narratives have focused on females. Sebastian changes the perspective and Mäkelä delivers a new spin. We first see this world through a research gaze, Max’s. Most importantly we see that his double life has sparked creativity.
Max lives a double life and then goes home to write about what he just experienced. Most would judge him for using these men to write a novel. Refreshingly, Mäkelä never does. There’s no judgment in the sex work or Max’s reason for living his double life. Instead, the lens displays a character study of a young man wanting to be one of the greats but struggling creatively and it’s an enthralling performance from Mollica. Thus, Sebastian is a riveting look at the lengths artists go for their work.
Sebastian is in the World Cinema Dramatic Competition at this year’s festival.
Sebastian screens at Sundance ’24:
Jan 21 at 6:30 PM at Library Centre Theatre
Jan 22 at 6:35 PM at Redstone Cinemas – 7
Jan 25 at 10:00 PM at Megaplex Theatres at The Gateway – Theatre 8/9
Jan 26 at 2:30 PM at Redstone Cinemas – 2
Online — Jan 25 – Jan 28
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