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Sebastian (Spanish/English)

I quite enjoyed this little indie gay film set in a really small town in Peru. Th production quality feels low and not so sharp, but I honestly felt that it reflects that conservativeness of people living in smaller cities where the norm of life is god and straight ways of social life. So in that sense, part of me was able to connect with this film and its characters more on an emotional level.

Sebastian rushes back from LA to his small town in Peru when he hears that his mother had a stroke. He stays there to take care of her, reconnects with friends and also his ex-girlfriend Lucia who is also a nurse. Lucas has a son too. He has sex with her and eventually finds out that the son is actually his son. Before leaving Peru, she never told Sebastian about it (later revealed to us why). After a few days, Sebastian's husband Josh comes to town and the narrow-mindedness of this small town comes to full force. The mother refuses to meet him and in small doses we find out that Sebastian left the town when he came out that he was gay, his mother asked him to leave and he even told the whole truth to Lucia. With Josh in town, his sexuality is in your face for not just his friends and mother but also the whole town. They are unwelcome everywhere and made to feel like outcasts reminding him why he left the town in the first place. The mother is still bitter about everything. Josh is mad that Sebas slept with his ex and the info about him having a son also doesnt sit well. His mother eventually passes way and he moves back to LA with Josh living a happy life, but a part of his heart, his son, is still in Peru and he yearns for it. In an emotional finale, he decides to move back to his town to reconnect with this son.

I liked many aspects of the film, despite the fact that I fully do not agree with how the film ended. There could have been a happy medium. It was very obvious that Josh and Sebastian love each very much, but it is also true that Sebastian has just found out about his 9 year old son, with whom he wants to reconnect. The ending makes sense if he is just visiting but it felt more like leaving Josh and moving back. I really connect with Sebastian's character and how he must have struggled as a going up by where being gay is just outright ridiculed. Even after all these years, his friends call him that. He just wants to be himself. Even his mother made him move away from her and town for peace. The one thing that I really liked about the film was the communication. The fact that Sebastian told his ex-gf about his sexuality before he left town (he did not know she was pregnant). He also tells Josh the truth that he slept with her and now he is struggling to really understand himself. All he knows is that he is himself and happy when he is with Josh; but with everything else around him, he is confused. I understand his need to reconnect with his son, which by the way, the kid, who was playing it was extremely cute and I just loved his role. The whole scenarios is very believable. One other thing that comes random is the mother wanting to know about his wedding right before she does, while clearly all this while, she was dead against the idea of her son being gay. I do not understand the rural life in Peru to comment on how accurate were reactions of town people when they see Josh and Sebastian together, avoiding them as plague, but I am sur the makers did their homework. Overall, this little small film about a man's struggle with himself, his sexuality, his love and approval from people he knows connected with me very much. His struggle to navigate his love, his family and the culture was very real for me. (7.5/10)

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