Sebastian (18)
Directed by Mikko Makela
★★★ 

 
DO you need to live through and experience something in order to write about it? That is one of the key questions posed by writer-director Mikko Makela’s bold and provocative second film which explores sex work in a new positive light. 
 
The film follows 25-year-old Max (Ruaridh Mollica), an aspiring writer from Edinburgh working for a literary magazine in London, who decides to moonlight as a sex worker named Sebastian as research for his debut novel. He writes down all his encounters and the conversations with his clients before turning them into a literary work. It seems only a matter of time before his double life will inevitably come crashing down.
 
Relative newcomer Mollica is mesmerising as this ambitious queer would-be novelist who decides to dip his toe in the sex industry, and finds he develops a liking for it. It is his compelling performance which elevates this slow burning drama which nevertheless feels overly long at times.   
 
The film examines sex work as a choice in London’s gig economy as 20 somethings do not consider it as a last resort any longer or feel guilty about it. It shows Max enjoying his work although it does not shy away about portraying the risks. But it isn’t presented as either the cause or consequence of trauma. As Max states he doesn’t want to write about another sad sex worker story. 
 
This isn’t the case as it ends on a hopeful and positive note. 

In cinemas April 4 

 
Four Mothers (15)
Directed by Darren Thornton
★★★★ 
 
 

 
GETTING old and becoming your parents’ carer are at the heart of this hilarious and heartwarming comedy drama in which a writer on the verge of success ends up looking after four eccentric and demanding elderly women including his own mother. 
 
Set in Dublin it is loosely based on Gianni Di Gregorio’s 2008 film Mid-August Lunch, and on co-writers Darren and his brother Colin Thornton’s own experiences with their mum. 
 
It is a subject that a lot of people can relate to as the film follows Edward’s (James McArdle) struggles to juggle his own life while taking care of 81-year-old Alma (Fionnula Flanagan) who can only communicate via an iPad following a stroke. Suddenly his close friends, including his therapist, dump their mums on his doorstep while they escape to Spain’s Maspalomas Pride for the weekend. 
 
McArdle is superb as the long-suffering son while Flanagan delivers a masterclass performance without uttering one word. Niamh Cusack is a hoot in her memorable cameo as a medium. 
 
This is a charming yet tender film about loneliness which will have you laughing hysterically one minute and crying the next. A definite must see. 

In cinemas April 4

Restless (15)
Directed by Jed Hart
★★★ 

 
 
THIS is a disturbingly tense thriller which will have you on the edge of your seat as you watch an ordinary working-class care-worker being terrorised by her new neighbours from hell. 
 
Nicky (a phenomenal Lyndsey Marshal) is grieving the loss of her parents and her son going off to university. She is exhausted from work when Deano (Aston McAuley on frightening form) moves in next door and starts playing loud music all hours every night. Her pleas to lower the sound go unheeded and things turn ugly as she starts losing her mind due to sleep deprivation. 
 
Restless is an impressive directorial debut feature by Jed Hart, who also wrote it, and is driven by a tour de force performance by Marshal as a woman who will do what it takes to stop her odious neighbour. You know it cannot end well especially when her cat goes missing. 
 
While hard to watch, this film is saved by a satisfying and cathartic finale, set to the “Habanera” from Bizet’s Carmen.

In cinemas April 4

The Most Precious of Cargoes (12A)
Directed by Michel Hazanavicius
★★★ 

 
 
THE lives of a childless woodcutter and his wife are transformed when she finds a baby girl abandoned near railway tracks in this surreal animated feature about the Holocaust by Oscar winning director Michel Hazanavicius.
 
It is based on Jean-Claude Grumberg’s novel of the same name and it is a bizarre yet haunting film. Although it does not state where or when it is set, a train packed with people with the star of David stitched onto their clothes provides a major clue. 
 
It contains very little dialogue and the cute animation of forest wildlife sits uncomfortably beside the backdrop of the death camps. 
 
It is unclear what the point of this film is besides the obvious moral that children are our future and should be cherished and protected.  

In cinemas April 4