Directed by the Finnish-British filmmaker Mikko Mäkelä (A Moment in the Reeds), this uneven Belgian co-production depicts a budding novelist's often perilous journey through the underbelly of London, in the hope that he'll find both himself and the inspiration for his first book. Set against the backdrop of the English capital's bustling streets, Sebastian follows the life of Max, impressively played by the Scots actor Ruaridh Mollica. Max is a twentysomething magazine staff writer originally from Scotland's capital city, Edinburgh, to where he briefly returns in what might be viewed as one of the film's more poignant scenes.
Not that there are many such moments in Sebastian. To describe Mäkelä's film as pitiless is perhaps something of a stretch, yet there's a cold, clinical feel to much of the movie, which is maybe understandable given the transactional nature of Max's double life as a sex worker. This decision is driven not so much by his financial situation, but is rather rooted in the quest for authenticity in his writing. For this research, Max uses the alias Sebastian, as per the title, and although he knows exactly where the line of demarcation is, he's still playing a dangerous game, one that could go very wrong should any of his clients discover the truth.
Max's approach is marked by both sensitivity and resolve, and the film offers a narrative that confronts the audience's views on morality and inspiration: who, if anyone, is doing the using? There are no clear or easy answers to be had as we're presented with the uneasy sight of Max feverishly jotting down details of his encounters, sometimes just after they've happened. Any given person's feelings about Max's practices are quite likely to line up with their opinion of Brooke Magnanti's blog-turned-book The Intimate Adventures of a London Call Girl—a work that, at least on a superficial level, has much in common with Sebastian.
The film's portrayal of sexuality is reasonably ambitious, offering a fresh perspective when it could very easily have been content to deal in familiar tropes. Among Max's roster of almost invariably seedy clients is the gentle Nicholas (Jonathan Hyde), an educated, older man more in need of companionship and intelligent conversation than the services Max typically provides. Hyde is wonderfully sympathetic in this role, and it is through his scenes with Mollica that the mostly unpleasant Sebastian achieves some rare (and much-needed) moments of tenderness, which feel all the sweeter given the morass that surrounds them.
