This is why Max decides to write a novel about a gay escort, but he doesn’t just imagine the character. To truly embody the role, he creates a profile on an escort website, Dreamy Guys, where he starts meeting clients under the name of Sebastian. A name, a mask, a life that becomes increasingly complicated.
What stands out immediately is that Max isn’t doing it for the money. It’s not about finances; it’s more about his search for a deeper meaning. It’s as if his creative work requires a more “concrete” experience, something that helps him truly understand the world he’s writing about. And this is where it gets interesting: Max’s experience in sex work isn’t about someone who needs money, but rather someone trying to understand something about himself.
Throughout his journey, Max meets Nicholas, an older man and a respected figure in the literary world. A relationship develops between them that goes beyond a simple professional exchange. It’s not just a sex story; it’s an encounter that forces Max to reflect on who he truly is, what he wants in life, and how much of his personal experience he’s willing to pour into his novel.
With Sebastian, Mäkelä doesn’t aim to provide a one-dimensional view of sex work. In fact, the film presents a more nuanced and complex version: here, sex work is not seen as a necessity, but as a conscious choice. A way to explore one’s identity, to connect with others, in a world where genuine connections seem harder and harder to find.
The sex scenes, though explicit, are never gratuitous. Everything is carefully planned, thanks to the collaboration with an intimacy coordinator, to highlight the emotions and vulnerability of the characters rather than focusing on the physical aspect. You sense that behind each scene, there’s a search: the attempt to understand how the body, desire, and communication intertwine in a human encounter.
Loneliness is another central theme of the film. Max lives in a crowded London, but he’s a young man who seems unable to truly connect with others. The figure of Nicholas, along with the other characters, becomes a symbol of a generation of queer men who often feel invisible, lacking spaces where they can meet others in a genuine way. In this case, sex work isn’t just a form of expression, but also a way to fill emotional voids.
A detail that adds depth to the story is the title of the novel Max is writing, Il miracolo di Sils Maria. It’s a nod to Olivier Assayas’s film Clouds of Sils Maria, which influenced Mäkelä for its metanarrative approach and its reflection on art within a commercial system. Sebastian also questions how stories are told and who has the right to tell them.
The film arrives at a time when the debate on sex work and the representation of queer communities is very much alive. But while other films like Sean Baker’s Anora tackle similar themes, Sebastian takes a different route. There are no explicit judgments; rather, the film offers a more intimate and personal observation that invites us to reflect rather than criticize.
Sebastian is a product of independent cinema, funded by public funds, and unafraid to tackle uncomfortable and taboo subjects. The film stands out for its ability to address a frequently stereotyped topic with delicacy and respect, showing sex work in a different light—not idealized, but certainly human.
Mäkelä, who initially considered making a documentary about sex work, ultimately chose to tell a fictional story in order to more freely explore the emotional and psychological dynamics of his characters. The result is a film that doesn’t offer easy answers, but pushes us to open a dialogue about complex themes like identity, loneliness, and desire, far removed from clichés and superficiality. It’s a tale that, at its core, speaks to how difficult—and sometimes necessary—it is to question everything in order to find oneself.
