Sebastian (2024)

Director: Mikko Mäkelä

Script writer: Mikko Mäkelä

Production company: Bêtes Sauvages

Producer: James Watson

Genre: Drama, Lgbtq+

Composer: Ilari Heinilä

Max, a 25-year-old aspiring writer living in London, begins a double life as a sex worker in order to research his debut novel.

In his assured sophomore feature, Finnish-British writer-director Mikko Mäkelä explores the transgressive power of queer sexuality and the transformative impact that can result from embracing a new identity. Far from simply informing his secretly autobiographical fiction writing, Max’s experiences as “Sebastian” awaken a deeper sense of self, unshackled from societal expectations. Ruaridh Mollica impresses in the lead role, embodying Max with an initially hesitant curiosity that blossoms into exhilaration and ease as he becomes subsumed within his nocturnal alias. Eschewing the sensationalism or moralizing that often accompanies stories of sex work, Sebastian instead offers a refreshing, sex-positive take in a film that ultimately celebrates the liberation that accompanies self-exploration.

“At its heart it is a portrait of a young artist looking for their voice and the tension between self-expression and audience considerations, the difficulties sometimes for a young artist to stay in control of their narrative and how this might come to bear on someone who draws on their own life for their work."

- Director Mikko Mäkelä