‘Sebastian’ Review: Fiction and Reality Collide in the Latest Work From Queer Filmmaker Mikko Mäkelä

Courtesy of Kino Lorber

Since his death in the 3rd century, Christian martyr Saint Sebastian has virtually been reborn in the queer cultural imagination as history's first twink; A figure relegated to the shadows and an emblem of male beauty, concretized through innumerable works of art by a combination of visceral pleasure and agony as he is assailed with arrows by his Roman captors. In Sebastian, the second feature film from Finnish-English filmmaker Mikko Mäkelä, this queer vision of the saint who shares the movie's name is brought to life by its main character, a twenty-something writer called Max who adopts a nocturnal life as a gay sex worker to gather inspiration for a book he hopes to publish. Operating with absorbing levels of sensuality and melancholy–– often simultaneously –– Mäkelä's sophomore effort portrays a solemn and insightful image of contemporary queer culture, as shown through the arresting eyes of Sebastian's central character.

Fresh-faced Ruaridh Mollica stars as Max, Scottish born but living alone in London to chase his dreams of becoming a significant voice in queer literature. Dynamically attractive but inherently shy, Max toils away at a culture magazine as a freelance journalist, hoping it will lead to a staff position or at least the chance to interview with Brett Easton Ellis, whose career he idolizes. Looking to publish his first novel, Max adopts the pseudonym "Sebastian" and joins an online platform for gay escorts, using this new line of work to inspire the short stories assembled for his book. Over time, Max's introverted nature and literary ambitions collide with a newfound assurance unlocked by his hidden life as a sex worker, leading him into situations and emotional states of confusion he never expected, forming impediments in the trajectory toward the success he ultimately desires.

Courtesy of Kino Lorber

Through Max's perspective, Mäkelä's vision and screenplay can speak to contemporary queer culture with a certain authenticity often missing from movies dealing with similar narratives. At his core, Max is a timid and self-conscious creature, pressured by the technology of the modern world and its falsified depictions of what gay identities are meant to be. Max chooses to meet his clientele in person, rejecting the OnlyFans bandwagon that some of his peers have jumped onto, afraid of the eternity with which his photos or information could exist on similar internet platforms and the lasting effects it could have on his writing career. Relatably, after receiving messages like, "Sorry, not my type," Max has emotionally irrational reactions to the rejections he receives online from prospective clients, confounded by the increasingly blurred lines between his fabricated persona and true identity.

While Mäkelä approaches his protagonist with genuine compassion, the director does not ignore Max's unquestionably privileged status within gay culture. Returning to the imagery of Saint Sebastian, Max perfectly embodies this vision of youthful, impeccable male beauty. Within queer circles, Max's standing as a twinky, skinny white guy gives him a level of mobility and power often inaccessible to gay identities who fall outside of this archetype. This privilege allows Max to delve into sex work not out of necessity but curiosity, allowing him to maintain a semblance of authority offered by his positioning within the white-dominated, misogynistic hierarchy that permeates queer culture to this day. The film confronts this unspoken advantage through Max's indifference toward the individuals who encircle him, who he often neglects emotionally, too overtaken by his selfish ambition to make time for those who uplift him.

Sebastian is fearless in its explorations of sexuality, an approach increasingly bypassed by many filmmakers working today as our zeitgeist shifts towards puritanical perspectives regarding sex. Throughout the film's nearly two-hour runtime, Max has lots of sex with all sorts of men: for fun, for business, for research, and for true intimacy. The director and his collaborators form these scenes with clear intentions of advancing the work's emotional beats, creating steamy compositions that evolve with Max's journey of discovery. At times, Sebastian detours from Max's sexual encounters with other men to also remark on pop culture's continued fetishization of queer intimacy: As Max's book alters its focus from the accounts of a sex worker into more sentimental territory, his publisher advises him to stick with the sexier content, which she thought readers would find much more entertaining.

Courtesy of Kino Lorber

Dripping with a stylish atmosphere, much of Sebastian takes place after dark, the hours in which Max most intensely devotes himself to his double life. Finnish cinematographer Iikka Salminen never shies away from the movie's urban setting, capturing the edginess of East London as well as its beauty: evening streets glitter with rain puddles, and fluorescent shop fronts illuminate Max's ever-changing expressions. In alignment with the film's hyper-focus on its central character, Salminen's camera remains fixed on Max's face through close-ups, heightening his sense of isolation, which steadily increases as Sebastian moves forward.

Better known across film and television in the UK, Mollica entirely holds his own in Sebastian. He delivers a performance that develops from tortured to self-assured with a contemplative subtlety perfectly matched to the movie's overall sensibilities. As Max, Mollica's chameleonic bone structure mirrors his character's ever-shifting frame of thought, bolstering his physical performance in a film that is often more interested in unspoken language than dialogue. Mollica's fresh look and relatively unseen talent work as a vital element of Sebastian, seemingly allowing the actor to untether himself from expectation and delve into a dynamic character that requires much vulnerability. Not to be forgotten–– although his character may fall victim to outdated gay stereotypes–– Australian actor Jonathan Hyde begets a supporting performance that breathes much-needed tenderness into the film, breaking up the prevailing control that looms over much of Mäkelä's vision.

Ultimately, Sebastian and its foremost character's pursuits of truth and understanding convey an authenticity lacking in many of the character studies seen on the big screen in recent years. Mäkelä's invention transmits autobiographical elements, with Max's relationship to his work and his community serving as a rendition of the director's own life experiences. Unafraid to investigate the rawness of the world and the messiness of living, Sebastian's genuineness builds a fully realized depiction of a young queer person just trying to figure it all out.

3.5/5

‘Sebastian’ world premiered at the 2024 Sundance Film Festival, where it screened in the World Cinema Dramatic Competition. Kino Lorber will handle the film's theatrical release in the United States, which begins on Friday, August 2. Click here to find a showtime of ‘Sebastian’ near you.