Sebastian
An aspiring novelist turns to sex work for his research in Mikko Mäkelä’s persuasive and intelligent drama.
Ruaridh Mollica
Image courtesy of Peccadillo Pictures.
I gather that Mikko Mäkelä's first feature – A Moment in the Reeds made in 2017 – won praise but it had a limited release. Consequently, it is its follow-up, Sebastian, which has introduced me to his work and it is of a quality that reminds me of the 2011 film Weekend. That was the piece which revealed to me the immense skill of Andrew Haigh, a gay filmmaker who was also a notable screenwriter. Mäkelä is another gay talent who is UK based but is of Finnish as well as British descent and he too both writes and directs. His central character in Sebastian is Max (Ruaridh Mollica), a Scot in his mid-twenties who has moved down to London where he is writing for a literary magazine as well as working on a novel having already had a short story published in Granta. His editor (Lara Rossi) is aware of the novel in progress and that its subject is sex workers and Max has told her that the work is based on interviews that he is carrying out by way of research. But in truth Max is drawing on his own experiences having opted to gain material for the book by setting himself up on a website which runs under the name of ‘Dreamy Guys’ and there offering his services as an escort under the name of Sebastian.
In a film which contains many sex scenes – always appropriate and well handled – Max's situation is established in the first few minutes. We see Sebastian calling on an elderly client (David Nellist), witness the two in bed and hear the dialogue involved after which we find Max returning home to create another episode for his book which draws directly on what has just played out. Thereafter the film portrays both the literary scene and the further research undertaken by Max as Sebastian. The former finds Max finding encouragement from both his editor and his agent (Leanne Best) but he is then advised on how his work should be altered to gain greater commercial appeal in line with current trends. When as part of his sex work Sebastian discovers that what had been set up as a solo encounter proves instead to be a sex party he stays on when he realises that this could provide him with more varied material. But in time it is his role as an escort which also leads to him becoming involved quite unexpectedly in something closer to a relationship.
We have seen that his johns are usually older men – men like the businessman Daniel Larson (Ingvar Sigurdsson) who makes contact again and takes him on a trip to Brussels – but the one who impacts him by being genuinely warm and concerned is Nicholas D’Avray (Jonathan Hyde). Nicholas is a septuagenarian and a retired teacher who on their first encounter opts for no more than talk. However, his long-term partner having died three years earlier, he has contacted Sebastian which is how they meet. Both of them happen to share artistic interests and it is to his pleasure that Nicholas recognises that the young writer is an atypical escort. When they do later go to bed, it is part and parcel of what has become an undemanding friendship. Their rapport is beautifully rendered but it is not the central focus of the story. At heart Sebastian is a portrait of a young man who knows exactly what he wants in his career but who is still in the process of finding out what he needs if he is to be true to himself in his personal life.
The scenes representing Max's involvement in the literary world are totally persuasive. We see how he is driven and how his admiration for Brett Easton Ellis whom he is expecting to interview leads to him finding that not to have had a novel published by the age that Ellis did is both a worry and a spur. Life in the magazine office convincingly incorporates its competitive nature and current attitudes (that includes talk about who has the right to write about certain subjects). The members of this milieu are all convincingly portrayed including Max's friend and fellow writer Amna (Hiftu Quasem) whose advice he does not always take. Both here and in the scenes with Nicholas the talk includes references to gay authors and these surely reflect Mäkelä's own wide-ranging interest in the arts. Furthermore, what we hear of Max's own writing is enough to convince us that the young man has genuine talent. We may not always approve of what he does (the film is fully aware that subject only to changing their names Max is very ready to exploit the material that his johns unknowingly give him) but we believe in him.
When it comes to Max's own sex life, the fact that, despite being on the gay scene, he is not yet fully formed as his own man leaves his exact motivation an open question and that is something that I find entirely credible. Some critics have found the vagueness about it irritating. Max goes to the gym to buff up his image and when he becomes an escort, he may be finding excitement in a possibly dangerous realm yet it could be that it makes him more ashamed than he wants to be. On occasion he rejects a passing overture from a man his own age and the fact that his johns are so often elderly may or may not be a matter of chance. But, if we are asking questions, so too is Max himself and I only find the ambiguity of his situation a drawback when as the film draws to a close he takes a major step. It comes too much out of the blue to be wholly convincing and even then what it implies for Max’s future is arguably somewhat uncertain.
But if Sebastian is less than a full masterpiece, it is a strikingly individual and intelligent work and among Mäkelä's skills is an ability to portray sex scenes that ring true. This is most satisfyingly apparent in the sensitivity shown when Max and Nicolas are interacting and the tenderness of their rapport is expressed. Jonathan Hyde's performance as Nicolas deserves to be a contender come awards time for Best Supporting Actor. As for Ruaridh Mollica, in the long and demanding central role he proves to be a magnetic presence. This is a great acting feat capturing to perfection a character who is throughout in the gradual process of self- discovery.
MANSEL STIMPSON
Cast: Ruaridh Mollica, Hiftu Quasem, Jonathan Hyde, Ingvar Sigurdsson, Lara Rossi, Leanne Best, David Nellist, Dylan Brady, Stella Gonet, Alkbar Kurtha, Pedro Minas, Laurent Marla, Charlotte Harwood.
Dir Mikko Mäkelä, Pro James Watson, Screenplay Mikko Mäkelä, Ph Iikka Salminen, Pro Des Guy Thompson, Ed Arttu Salmi and Mikko Mäkelä, Music Ilari Heinilä, Costumes Frank Gallacher.
Bêtes Sauvages/Helsinki-filmi/Barry Crerar/Lemming Film Belgium/Great Point Media/Screen Scotland-Peccadillo Pictures.
110 mins. UK/Finland/Belgium. 2024. US Rel: 2 August 2024. UK Rel: 4 April 2025. Cert. 18.
