IMDb reviews From IMDb
★ 6 / 10
“Max” (Ruaridh Mollica) juggles a career as an
CinemaSerf
“Max” (Ruaridh Mollica) juggles a career as an aspiring journalist and novelist with charging £200 per hour selling his services as an escort to, mainly, older…
“Max” (Ruaridh Mollica) juggles a career as an aspiring journalist and novelist with charging £200 per hour selling his services as an escort to, mainly, older men. His boyish good looks and obvious inexperience at the latter makes him popular and he proves successful enough to use his varied experiences to form the basis of his book. His publisher likes the freshness and intimacy of the adventures of “Sebastian” but a rather self-induced setback at work forces a change to the dynamic of both his life and his work. Though there is the odd sex scene to enliven the drama, the rest of this is all a rather shallow investigation of the high-end comfort market and whilst Mollica is easy enough on the eye his performance over-relies on that and is quite lacklustre. The story itself has quite a few gaps that don’t quite add up; timelines don’t quite track and by the conclusion I actually thought that instead of offering us some sort of critical observation of an industry that transcends just about every aspect of society, we ended up with more of a rather exploitative - cruel, even, character about whom I really didn’t care so much after a while. Jonathan Hyde brings a bit of (rather sad) nuance to the proceedings but Ingvar Sigurdsson’s “Daniel” seemed just too Jekkyl and Hyde to be plausible at quite a crucial juncture in the young man’s increasingly light-weight story. Rather than a movie, this might have made for a better three-part drama that could have focussed a little more cohesively on the aspects of his life, love and self-evaluation but as it is, it’s all too bitty. Worth a watch, but not what it could have been.
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★ 5 / 10
Authors striving for authenticity in their work often
Brent Marchant
Authors striving for authenticity in their work often engage in extensive background research, sometimes of a firsthand nature, to get things right. However…
Authors striving for authenticity in their work often engage in extensive background research, sometimes of a firsthand nature, to get things right. However, when it comes to writer-director Mikko Mäkelä’s second (and inexplicably much-applauded) feature, I have some serious reservations about its applicability here. This tale of a talented young London-based author of award-winning short stories and magazine pieces is embarking on his first novel, an inside exposé of the lives of gay male sex workers. To find out what these experiences are like, the ambitious emerging wordsmith, Max Williamson (Ruaridh Mollica), decides to investigate the subject by becoming an escort, arranging hook-ups through an internet website under the pseudonym “Sebastian.” But, the more involved he becomes in his research, the more he becomes consumed by it, unsure how to keep control over it. Strangely, though, there are also times when he’s apparently ambivalent about it, going to great lengths to keep both his hustling work – and even his sexuality – a secret. Is he trying to keep from being discovered by his clients and writing peers, or is he a closet case who, quite ironically, hasn’t fully come to accept himself (not even coming out to his own family)? In any event, he engages in a string of diverse encounters that leave him – and viewers – wondering about exactly where he’s going with all this, including a somewhat baffling, unexpected budding romance with an older gentleman (Jonathan Hyde). This plethora of mixed motivations is where the film gets itself into trouble, hopelessly meandering in multiple, seemingly contradictory directions, raising questions about what the filmmaker/screen writer actually had in mind, as well as how diligent he was in doing his homework in crafting the story. “Sebastian” thus often comes across like a series of sexual escapades with a poorly conceived story wrapped about them, many of which end up falling back on well-worn, outdated gay cautionary tale tropes. The film also incorporates some implausible developments involving the publishing business, stretching the picture’s credibility even further. In light of this, then, it’s hard to fathom how and why this offering has received as many accolades as it has, especially as a potential candidate for awards season recognition. In my view, this release needs major retooling, not only to provide a more focused narrative, but also to strengthen its character development to something more believable and something that generates a more viable audience connection. To be sure, there are many fine LGBTQ+ movies out there these days that are genuinely worthy of praise and recognition – but this overrated production certainly isn’t one of them.
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★ 7 / 10
Fiction has to come from somewhere
meinwonderland
In discussing an assignment for a Bret Easton Ellis report, a dispute surfaces as to whether one writer or the other asked for it first and if quality is…
In discussing an assignment for a Bret Easton Ellis report, a dispute surfaces as to whether one writer or the other asked for it first and if quality is subordinated to optics. The boss says, "I do think it best that queer writers cover queer authors" and that it is not a matter of optics but sensibility and sensitivity. This exchange illustrates an often-heard idea when it comes to art. Does it change if artists experienced, lived, what they write about? Does sensitivity and sensibility presuppose experience that translates, and is legible, as artistic quality?Written and directed by Mikko Mäkelä, Sebastian is his sophomore feature that, like his previous one, A Moment in the Reeds from 2017, takes place in the LGBTQIA+ community. Mikko Mäkelä is interested in exploring questions of identity, personhood as a site for exploration with profound characters that defy any simplistic analysis. Max is a very interesting protagonist. Played by Ruaridh Mollica, Max is a young aspiring writer who already published short stories, some of which made him the recipient of accolades, and now wants to write his first novel. Ambitious and talented, he finds in sex work not only inspiration for his novel but also a vehicle for self-discovery. Sebastian is the name he chooses for his escort persona, something common in the profession as it helps to hide their real selves and therefore mitigate stigmatization. As someone new in this, Sebastian will encounter different clients who find in him something uncommon, i.e., someone honest and real who does not hide behind a description that does not belong to him. As one of the clients succinctly put it, "It's so nice that not everyone is deceptive." Words that do justice to their meaning because Sebastian is beautiful and they are captivated by him. The clients will provide Max the literary stimulus needed and also money, something that, for young authors, is not precisely abundant in the writing profession.And while at its core a character study, something interesting about Mikko Mäkelä's feature is its social commentary about realities most do not have an insight into. Realities where money is always present, although many times occluding feelings that cannot find form to be translated directly. Love, even if it is of the carnal kind, and even if its purpose is short-lived once the fulfillment of desire is completed, never ceases to be but a façade of its true transactional nature that comes undone when the realization that the other is not a possession comes alive.Its cinematography consists of aesthetic, stylish visuals that add to the sense of being in a world where appearance is of the utmost importance, its highest currency. Its sleek ambience bears a resemblance to The Girlfriend Experience, a resemblance, of course, not limited to its cinematography. Like Chelsea, Sebastian is not the answer to a traumatic past or the like, on the contrary, it might be said he is a heightened version when ambition meets possibilities.
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pls upload birder. thanks