Sebastian ** (2024, Ruaridh Mollica, Hiftu Quasem, Jonathan Hyde) – Classic Movie Review 13,364

Writer/ director Mikko Mäkelä’s provocative 2024 UK/ Finland/ Belgian co-production film Sebastian stars Ruaridh Mollica as Max, an aspiring young writer in London, who begins living a double life as a sex worker to research his debut novel.

Ruaridh Mollica stars in writer/ director Mikko Mäkelä’s provocative 2024 film Sebastian as Max, a 25-year-old Scottish aspiring writer living in London, who begins a double life as a sex worker calling himself Sebastian apparently to research his debut novel. However, as he tries to inveigle himself into the lives of his aged clients, it might be a bit more complicated than that, feeding into the character’s obsessive and rather boring narcissism.

Sebastian is in the interesting category, though the film moves a bit slowly, and the many sex scenes are distinctly unsexy, by the nature of things. Scottish-Italian actor Ruaridh Mollica is really rather good in very exposed circumstances. Veteran actor Jonathan Hyde is fine as his sympathetic, much older client, who really only wants to talk and reminisce, but might connect.

The media satire is rather obvious, and the characters are very clichéd and not all of them very well played. The film is very plain, made with a lack of special flair, style and real energy, and overall quite unexciting. There is not much dynamism or raw edge, and not a shock or surprise in sight. The soundtrack is fairly regulation and ordinary. That leaves Ruaridh Mollica more or less alone to carry the movie single-handedly, and he just about does.

It premiered on 21 January 2024 at the Sundance Film Festival.

Mollica was born in Prato, Italy to a Scottish mother and an Italian father. He was educated in Scotland. In February 2024, Mollica said: It was only when I moved to London and had the ability to be myself that I realised, “Oh actually, no, I like men as well”.’

Mikko Mäkelä’s feature directorial debut is the 2017 Finnish romantic drama film A Moment in the Reeds.

The cast

The cast are Ruaridh Mollica as Max Williamson, Hiftu Quasem as Amna, Ingvar Sigurdsson as Daniel, Jonathan Hyde as Nicholas, Lara Rossi as Claudia, Leanne Best as Dionne, David Nellist as Peter, Pedro Minas as Oliver, Fleur Keith as Joan, Dylan Brady as Joel, Akbar Kurtha as Samir, and Marcus Macleod as Stuart.

© Derek Winnert 2025 – Classic Movie Review 13,364

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