Sebastian (2024)

Sebastian Review

In general, sex work is a topic that has always been considered taboo, not to mention, on the screen. The industry carries a lot of stigma as it portrays drug-infested and abusive environments for forced drama. Fortunately, there have been more positive stories told in recent years more nuanced and truthful stories. Sebastian is another one of these films it’s Mikko Mäkelä’s second feature film that authentically explores sex work in today’s society but isn’t without its flaws.

The movie begins with the introduction of Sebastian (Ruaridh Mollica) he’s a young man from Edinburgh living in London while working as a sex worker on what appears to be his first gig. Both the client and worker are nervous until they eventually get down to business the customer leaves happy, and Sebastian gets paid. However, it turns out that whilst ‘Sebastian’ might be his professional name (many sex workers use fake names for safety), the real Sebastian is actually a writer working on a novel about modern-day sex work Max (played by ?) who leads two lives: one as an author and another as a freelance prostitute.

This isn’t just about sex work though this also doubles as being about life as an author though the latter part proves to be less successful than the former. Max makes an active decision to get into this line of work which accurately reflects people starting off in this profession he grows confident through seeing how much joy he can bring into people’s lives when they need it most. What was also nice was seeing typical clients for him i.e., older men who aren’t painted out like horrible aging monsters but rather human beings with needs and wants too however, it wasn’t all sunshine and rainbows since some characters treat him poorly because they don’t think much of themselves either let alone someone doing such things but I suppose if anything else could’ve gone wrong during those times where everybody hated themselves anyway then that might’ve just been his lot.

At the end of the day, people will talk about this movie based on its portrayal of sex work and what it has to say. For the most part, all client partners who Max interacts with are very welcoming and open-minded towards not just him but also their professional industry as a whole while being respectful which is generally appreciated although there were some exceptions however, I believe that painting such an honest picture highs mixed with lows accurately depicts what being a sex worker entails so one or two should be expected.

Sex work is going to be judged in terms of how it’s portrayed by any film or show about this subject matter and what message they want delivered through these stories. What stands out here is that most if not all of the people Max encounters seem nice enough if you ask me because they’re usually friendly towards him more than can be said for some other films. In fact, it’s Max himself who seems negative about themself himself as well as everything around him which eats away at his soul until he eventually spirals downwards due to anxiety although tight compositions combined with haunting music scores make this quite obvious even without words spoken aloud by Mollica whose performance throughout remains convincing however might carry different meanings depending on who hears them and how much attention is paid to each line.

On one hand, it gives Sebastian a unique perspective on how someone can lose themselves in two lives. When one of those lives involves being a sex worker, it implies that people are not shaped by what they do for a living but rather by the way society treats them which forces individuals to see everything from certain angles. However, on another note, it becomes tiresome watching self-destructive behaviors being exhibited by just about any prostitute character because this may lead to negative generalizations about all sex workers. Clearly, Sebastian wants to tell multi-faceted stories where viewers can decide for themselves but sometimes with delicate subjects like this, you have to take sides.

The third act is where everything comes together and wraps up the story in a satisfying narrative fashion albeit somewhat predictable since most movies follow similar patterns at their ends. Though it fails to address any of its issues regarding overindulgence or mixed signals sent throughout the script however, nobody can question the ambition nor good intentions behind those involved with making such an effort happen cinematically. Despite these flaws though, there are still some really great moments during Sebastian’s runtime they’re just few and far between.

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