Sebastian- They Do Always Say Write What You Know
Quick Take- Here’s an under the radar film from 2024 that has audio description, the queer drama Sebastian. The film centers around a young man who is looking to impress as a writer, and takes the assignment too seriously. He decides to write about sex workers, and then becomes one himself, using his own experiences to fuel his novel. Of course, there are complications, and backlash, but this film is pretty surface level, and isn’t really looking on tearing down the privilege of Sebastian, and instead any consequence he faces is quickly resolved, and the ending of the film celebrates him like he’s done some fantastic work of literature.
The problem is that Sebastian is never well established from the beginning, so he comes across as borderline narcissistic, and certainly naive, in his idea to conquer the literary world by dipping his toes into the very topic he’s writing about. he can’t just figure out how to write using his own thoughts, or interviewing those already doing the job. he dabbles, because he doesn’t need this work, but writes from the perspective of someone who does, yet he doesn’t actually need it. He could take a different path at any point.
the audio description is fine, especially in the more sexually driven scenes, but the film is disappointing. Watching lead characters who are narcissists can be done right, when the writers embrace those trends, but there’s something here about the approach that makes me believe the writer doesn’t see what everyone else sees in Sebastian. For more, check out the video.
