Following his debut feature, 2018’s BIFA-nominated A Moment in the Reeds, filmmaker Mikko Mäkelä is proud to present his second film, Sebastian.
Starring Ruaridh Mollica as 25-year-old aspiring novelist Max, he is living in London and paying his dues by working at a literary magazine. However, frustrated by his own ambitions and the pressures to succeed, he begins moonlighting as a sex worker named Sebastian, secretly meeting men via an escorting platform and using his experiences to fuel his stories.
What begins as a few furtive meetings soon becomes a hidden nocturnal life, and the debut novel he has longed to write finally seems within reach. As Max finds himself more comfortable with his newfound persona, yet determined to keep his exploits a secret, he increasingly struggles to remain in control of a delicately balanced double-life.
Is Sebastian merely a writer’s tool to achieve first-hand authenticity, or is something more at stake?
Sebastian is currently on the festival circuit and playing in select theaters, but had its world premiere at the 2024 Sundance Film Festival, where it was met with critical acclaim and a rapturous audience response. The film also stars Hiftu Quasem, Ingvar Sigurdsson, Jonathan Hyde, Lara Rossi, and Leanne Best.
Instinct recently caught up with Mäkelä and Mollica to talk more about the provocative queer drama and how it’s a nonjudgemental, non-exploitive portrait of sex work. Mollica also discusses how meaningful it was to be involved this project and how Max revealed his own queerness in ways he didn’t previously acknowledge, while Mäkelä touches on how he came up with the concept for “Sebastian” and what he envisioned.
Check out the full video interview below.
Mikko Mäkelä & Ruaridh Mollica…
Follow Mäkelä: Twitter | Website
Follow Mollica: Twitter | Instagram
