In 'Sebastian,' A Gay Writer's Quest For Fame Leads Him To Sex Work

Mikko Mäkelä's film examines how sex workers are navigating the gig economy, and boasts a tender performance by actor Ruaridh Mollica.

Writer-director Mikko Mäkelä and actor Ruaridh Mollica don’t mind if audiences seek out their new movie, “Sebastian,” for its abundance of steamy love scenes ― so long as those folks are willing to engage with the film’s coming-of-age story, too.

“Sebastian,” which hit theaters Friday after being screened at the Provincetown Film Festival in Massachusetts and the Sundance Film Festival in Utah, follows Max (played by Mollica), a 25-year-old journalist at a hip London publication who is enjoying a streak of professional success. After lining up a dream interview with “American Psycho” author Bret Easton Ellis, Max is ready for his next big project: a novel set in the underworld of queer sex workers.

When a publisher suggests that the book would work better as a first-person narrative, Max takes the plunge into sex work firsthand and moonlights as “Sebastian,” an escort on a gay hookup app.

To his surprise, Max enjoys his new side hustle, and strikes up a tender friendship with Nicholas (Jonathan Hyde), an older client and retired professor. But as Max eases into a life of evening trysts, he finds it challenging to maintain his straight-laced persona by day.

“Sebastian” is Mäkelä’s second feature, arriving in theaters about seven years after “A Moment in the Reeds.” He wrote the movie’s screenplay after relocating to London from his native Finland.