Sebastian

Preparing to be disappointed, I was instead pleasantly surprised. The leads are both strong, with good chemistry and the fact that they are both hot doesn't hurt. Same for the supporting cast. Don't see the classic build to a typical happy ending, that's often life, although the door is left open that it might actually. One element that could have been developed a bit more was the hinted-at lack of a satisfying relationship between Alex and his boyfriend. Made Alex seem a bit coldhearted and less believable as someone who might actually be falling in love. But good casting all around, pleasing camerawork and editing, believeable screenplay. The Sebastian character has emotional depth plus Alex House is comfortable in his own skin which brings emotional honesty and transparency to the roles he plays. Alex (the character) is not as comfortable but I'm sure that's how he was meant to come off....conflicted...and it works thanks to some fine acting. I liked it. An honest and satisfying effort by all.

Maybe the story was supposed to have been torrid. For that, a decent script and able actors would have been needed.There was nothing likable about the two principal actors and the characters they portrayed. One character had no problem with wasting no time cheating on his bf (the movie didn't state whether their relationship was open). The other character was just a boring lunk with a prima donna attitude.Normal people might have made a hot mess out of whatever that was they did. These two just made a muck mess.Two stars for first effort . Do better next time.

Though one could perceive the lead character Alex as a self centered jerk, it is more the story of a very broken young man finding a connection that allows him to talk of his painful secret and feel love again, to love and be loved. Having fallen for his teacher in high school, his parents reported the teacher, who then hung himself in prison after a visit from his lover, Alex. Having been betrayed by his parents and blaming himself for his lover's death, left home at age 17. As an adult he maintains distant relationships that fizzle in the cold dark shadow of his broken heart, yet still haunt him later.Sebastian lands for business and visits his cousin, Alex's boyfriend of some time, who is leaving for his own trip during this time. Though the writing for Sebastian and the acting of his character doesn't build any reason for us to be compelled to buy into the deep instant connection that leads both Sebastian and Alex to blow their relationships, it does happen. Through Sebastian Alex confronts his teen tragedy, perhaps because of the transient nature of the affair. Perhaps because of the mystery chemistry that is implied but never really shows up on screen, at least not convincingly. But they do form a deeply intimate relationship and keep open the possibility of either Alex going to Argentina or Sebastian remaining in Toronto. At the end our lead overcomes his jurt guilt and self sabotage to pursue a future with his new love.Nelson, the boyfriend and cousin to the pair is treated badly as Alex betrays him and costs him his relationship with his cousin. Truly dreadful behavior, but understandable as Alex is not really present in his relationships up to Sebastian, it is as if they are peripheral to him.Production is good throughout, acting is solid but for the Sebastian character who is oddly passive, perhaps intentionally so. The movie plods through most of its length, then compresses occurrences densely at the end skipping detail and background to produce an unrealistically densely packed few days.

After reading the reviews, I see that Sebastian was either a love it or hate it proposition. I fell on the side of love it. I felt strong emotions with the main characters. One from a dysfunctional family and another from a disapproving family. Perhaps I felt for both Alex and Sebastian because my life was a combination of what they went through and what they are going through. Love is very complicated. I don't feel that Alex was cheating on Nelson. It was obvious in the beginning of the movie that the relationship was over and it was Nelson who refused to believe it. I watched the entire movie never pausing or checking to see how much was left. The plot, the acting and the directing held my attention. I found myself feeling the same emotions that they actors were going through. I highly recommend this movie. You just might fall on the side of love it.

I rarely give 1 star to a film on Amazon because I usually can find some redeeming quality, but this disturbing movie is filled with all the gay stereotypes you can imagine. And it seemed that cheaters were being glorified. I cannot identify with that.No character development and no chemistry between the two leads. The screenplay is poorly written. It is hard to believe that in a week’s time two people could know each other well enough to be.in love. It was rather just a sexual encounter. Not a relationship that would warrant giving up everything. But Alex had trouble with relationships throughout his life. And Sebastian was simply unattractive, not showing by his “acting”sincere love for anyone.The music was annoying and interrupted any semblance of action there was. Nonetheless, better music would not have made the film any better.Neither Alex nor Sebastian were sympathetic characters. The character that I felt sorry for was Nelson, the boyfriend that Alex cheated on. The actor who played Nelson is the best in the cast, truly three dimensional and I could feel his hurt at being deceived and understood his reactions. The rest of the cast was two dimensional and were like puppets being controlled by the director who also played Alex. He was also the author of the script. No kudos there.I had been waiting to see this film for a while, but I should have read the reviews ahead of time. This is not a film I would ever watch again. That would grueling.