Sebastian (UK)

Write what you know, as the saying goes - so if you don’t know it, do the research. Take cue from this. Saying, this film is a wonderful exploration of a young queer writer, hoping to write his first novel, but his way of research ends up being him actually joining the world of sex work and what does that do to him personally and professionally. This film is a very interesting take on modern day love, sex and ambition.

The story is about 25-year-old Max Williamson. He works as a freelancer writer in a London literary magazine. He has also published a couple of short stories and is also working on writing his first novel about male gay sex workers. What his publishers and friends do not know is that Max's written assignments and novel draft -describing a gay escort's encounters with men- are not based on interviews but on his personal experience. At some point Max has becomes Sebastian in the online escort world. We witness this in the first scene when Max (as Sebastian) gets his date with an older gay man -and he performs to perfection, yet only his partner shares the excitement. He has a few more hook ups and the detailed descriptions of those in his novel summaries excite his publisher although at one point she does point that they have started to become repetitive. Going increasingly erratic in his magazine obligations, Max hooks up with an older, comparative literature teacher Nicholas where things start to go weird. He somehow starts falling for this older intellectual person but when he writes about that in the novel, the publisher does not like it. Meanwhile, he loses his freelance job and has to now rely on being an escort even more than before. One of his clients asks him for a getaway trip to Belgium where he eventually finds out that Sebastian has been writing a book and he throws him out. Nowhere tor each, he reaches out to Nicholas and tells him the truth. Surprisingly, he appreciates and even offers to help.

When we first met Max (Sebastian), he’s portrayed as a passionate expert on queer literature, a young man who is literature obsessed and wants to do something in life. But he also has a sort of narcissistic pleasure uploading pics, getting compliments from his clients. But the pressure of balancing his "research" and being a literary author causes him to eventually feel the pressure and unravel. Heavy eroticism combines with psychological drama in a film that examines what sexuality means today. While we never clearly understand of Max, as Sebastian has started to enjoy his role as an escort, because just like his publisher, even we as audience feel how much more new material can he get for his book by constantly hooking up with older guys!! Max tells himself all these interactions are primarily writing exercises, wary to acknowledge them as being personally fulfilling. The actor playing the title role is actually pretty darn good. He barely has any dialogues and he speaks a lot via his eyes and actions. The fact that he is also good looking young lad fits his character. Max seems to run from himself in ways beyond his sexuality too. He’s sheepish about fostering a presence on social media and there is some sort of strain of his relationship with his mother, which I never completely understood. He seems lonely, but for some reason we dont see him even making an effort to make friends or anything. So, besides him doing an escort role, we actually dont get to understand more of Max's character and background. The film maker doesn't shy away from Max’s sexual engagements; the sex scenes are numerous and graphic, almost to an excessive point.

'Sebastian' is an ultimately absorbing and a little disturbing film; it makes you root for a character whose ambitions overpower his common human sense. It’s more interesting as a character study than vehicle for examining the larger questions about sex work. A flawed but interesting drama, Sebastian presents a lot of modern conundrums but never deeply examines any. While its ending feels alright, it keeps you tense in your seat, with sex again used for power purposes. An interesting take on exploring artistic creations and lengths one man will go to do that. (6.5/10)