Sebastián Silva’s ‘Rotting in the Sun’ is a thoroughly entertaining comedy mystery film streaming on Mubi in select countries. Besides being a gripping drama, it also serves as a cultural analysis of the social media-obsessed gratification-seeking world that we live in. It stars Silva himself with Jordan Firstman as hilarious versions of themselves, alongside Gotham award-winning Catalina Saavedra in a crucial role. Before its theatrical release, it premiered at the 2023 Sundance Film Festival.
Before watching this film, please be aware that the film contains scenes with extreme nudity and some conversations related to self-harm. Rest assured, Silva handles this drama with such clarity of vision that it hits all the right notes, even though it makes you squirm.
*Spoilers ahead*
Rotting in the Sun (2023) Plot Summary & Movie Synopsis:
What is Sebastian Silva’s ‘Rotting in the Sun’ about?
Sebastian Silva’s ‘Rotting in the Sun’ follows a strange, existential adventure where he plays a version of himself. It feels like an episode of Larry David’s Curb Your Enthusiasm but much more absurd and contemplative, like a fever dream. We meet Sebastian in a park in Mexico, reading Emil Cioran’s The Trouble With Being Born. He reads out a quote – ‘Only optimists commit suicide, optimists who no longer succeed at being optimists. The others, having no reason to live, why would they have any to die?’ While a street musician sings The Cranberries’ Zombie in the background, Sebastian googles his name. He finds the results show a young actor.
While a homeless man defecates in the park, Sebastian googles ways to commit suicide easily and without pain. His search eventually leads him to find an article asking if Mexico has become a tourist destination to kill themselves. That’s where he learns about a sedative – Pentobarbital. Its consumption can lead to someone’s death. Suddenly, he notices his dog – Chima eating the homeless man’s crap. So, he starts beating Chima as a way to discipline it. A passer-by notices it and accuses him of animal cruelty. He argues back and tries to justify his actions. But the woman keeps mentioning that he hit it hard.
The Pessimism
Back home, Sebastian can’t stop thinking how that woman called him disgusting for beating his dog. He injects some drugs, falls asleep, and gets caught in some sort of fever dream. Soon after, his friend Mateo wakes him up to meet Gustavo, who had come to take pictures of his paintings. Unfortunately, his maid – Vero (Catalina Saavedra), had piled his wet paintings over one another and ruined them. As a gesture, she tries to clean it with a wipe cloth, but that does not save them. This mishap makes Sebastian even more pessimistic about his life. He starts advocating the worthlessness of doing anything in today’s world and mentions what he learned about dying by suicide.
The Beach Trip
Vero worries Mateo might fire her because of her mistake. So, she requests Sebastian not to cut this source of income from her life. He promises to vouch for her. After this chaotic incident, he succumbs to doom scrolling. Eventually, he travels to a beach based on his Google search. While several nude men walk around him, he chooses a heavy philosophical read instead of going with them. Eventually, he walks over to the sea to notice a man drowning. So, he decides to save this man’s life. Before he can reach there, the man returns to the shore. But then, Sebastian ends up struggling to breathe. Luckily, the lifeguard saves his life.
Once Sebastian returns to the shore, the man who tried to drown himself introduces himself as Jordan Firstman. He instantly recognizes Sebastian and calls himself a big fan of Sebastian’s work. Jordan cannot stop mentioning how much he appreciates Sebastian’s films. On the other hand, Sebastian cannot get over the fact that he almost drowned. Jordan tells him to manage his obsession with drowning since he is alive. Later, Jordan invites him to a party. Sebastian agrees and then looks through Jordan’s social media profile. Jordan’s humor does not appeal to him. It almost seems like he feels terrible a man of no talent is so famous.
Jordan’s Project
At the party, Jordan talks about his script for a show called ‘You Are Me.’ He calls it a version of Curb of Enthusiasm and offers to pay Sebastian to help him develop his idea. Eventually, he offers Sebastian some drugs. He shoots a video of Sebastian snorting K and posts it on his social media without Sebastian’s permission. Soon, Sebastian notices this video clip and tells Jordan to delete it. But Jordan refuses since he posted it for his followers. ‘Why are you worried about a post? Are you not above social media?’ he asks Sebastian. But Jordan’s refusal infuriates him. So, he starts insulting Jordan for his unfunny & uninspired work and calls him a clown. It does not hurt Jordan since ‘he is happy.’ So, no matter how hard Sebastian tries to make him feel terrible, it doesn’t work.
Sebastian returns home and has an online meeting with HBO executives. They politely disapprove of his idea about Twin Peaks-inspired alien invasion stories. He senses their opinions’ performative nature and inclination toward something more accessible. Eventually, Sebastian shares Jordan’s project idea. He mentions that they have been working on it together. Both the executives instantly recognize this influencer and talk about how funny he is. Since they show interest in Jordan’s idea, Sebastian decides to call Jordan to share his interest in collaborating on this project.
The Accident
Even though Sebastian agrees to collaborate with Jordan, he cannot hide his aversion to Jordan’s lack of self-awareness in his brief for the show. That’s when he again starts thinking of suicide. As per his usual habit of recording his thoughts, he talks about Pentobarbital and his desire to go to the infested beach. Back home, Vero asks him if she can leave early to go attend her niece’s 15th birthday. He agrees and seeks her help to bring a couch from his rooftop storage unit to the basement. It is supposed to serve as an arrangement for Jordan’s arrival. On a video call, he also tells Jordan about it. Afterward, while bringing the couch down with Vero, he loses his balance and accidentally falls from the roof.
Vero gets confused about what she should do in this situation. While she worries about Sebastian, she also has to attend her niece’s quinceanera. Impulsively, she decides to leave Sebastian just like that and to go to the celebration. Before leaving, she answers Mateo’s call on Sebastian’s phone and says that Sebastian went out. She covers Sebastian’s body, keeps Chima inside a room, and then gets dressed to leave for the party. But her guilt does not let her enjoy the celebration as she would have liked to. So, she asks for Lalo’s help and returns to Sebastian’s place with him. She hopes to alert the police about it. But Lalo understands that they would blame her since she left for the quinceanera as if nothing happened. So, they both bring Sebastian’s body to the rooftop and hide it inside the room.
Jordan’s Arrival
After this incident, Jordan arrives at Sebastian’s place to work on their project. Outside, Vero lies to him that she knows no such person. Luckily, Mateo is there to help Jordan and bring him inside. But Jordan keeps feeling there is something sketchy about what is happening. Even though Sebastian invited him, there is no sign of him. Jordan suspects Vero is hiding something from him. He also thinks that Vero and Sebastian are trying to prank him together. But soon after, he finds Sebastian’s phone inside the house. Wouldn’t he take his phone with him if Sebastian needed to leave? So, that makes him suspect that Sebastian is either just missing or dead.
Rotting in the Sun (2023) Movie Ending Explained:
Does Jordan manage to find Sebastian in the end?
During Jordan’s solitary investigation, Vero keeps getting more and more worried. While she knows where Sebastian is, she cannot speak the truth. She eavesdrops on Mateo’s conversation with his partner about Pentobarbital and how Sebastian talked about it in his voice notes. So, Vero makes Jordan suspect that Sebastian is suicidal. Later on, Jordan discovers Sebastian’s journals that strengthen this assumption. Suddenly, he starts feeling guilty for taking Sebastian’s suicidal thoughts from their beach visit lightly. He also goes live on his social media account to address it and to urge Sebastian to communicate in case he hears it.
Sebastian’s brother – Juan Andres Silva, sees Jordan’s video and gets worried. So, he contacts Jordan to know the situation. Juan believes his brother might just have gone off the grid. But he still decides to come to Sebastian’s place to check on this matter. He attends an exhibition but is not nearly as cheerful as he usually is. Sebastian’s disappearance clearly takes a toll on him. Meanwhile, Vero grows worried that her secret may soon be out in the open. So, she cries in front of Jordan, who feels bad for her. Subsequently, he offers her a cab ride home, even though she lives far away.
Right when Jordan drops Vero in a cab, Juan arrives at Sebastian’s place. After she leaves, Jordan cannot find Sebastian’s phone and journal. So, Juan considers the possibility that Sebastian might be somewhere around. Jordan cannot help but consider it as Sebastian playing with his mind. The next day, the police officers arrive to look around the house for clues. Jordan and Mateo share all the possible details they can think of. In the bathroom garbage bin, an officer finds a package of Pentobarbital. It makes them all consider this poison to be the reason behind his death.
However, after that, Vero finds it difficult to hide what actually happened. She walks up to Jordan, sitting outside with his bag, planning to return. He asks her whether Mateo took Sebastian’s phone and journals. That’s when Vero finally decides to come clean. She takes Jordan’s phone and speaks the truth in the translator app. Once she leaves, Jordan hears the English translation. Unfortunately, it is all over the place and does not reveal exactly what Vero said. Meanwhile, Vero leaves with the bottle of Pentobarbital in her hand.
So, at the end of the film, Jordan does not find Sebastian. But that isn’t what the film is really about. It is not like a detective thriller that is interested in providing closure. Instead, it is a contemplative study of our views about life and death. Many of the film’s moments subtly address the same. After Jordan posts Sebastian’s objectionable video on social media, Sebastian gets angry and tries to make Jordan aware of his mediocrity. But it does not matter to Jordan. As he says, his happiness keeps him away from feeling hurt by Sebastian’s words. Maybe Jordan is self-aware but chooses not to dwell upon it. Maybe he finds his ignorance blissful. Anyhow, it leads to his cheerfulness, which acts as a shield for any criticism.
On the other hand, Sebastian often contemplates death as a concept. Whenever it approached him, he made every effort to return to life. Remember the drowning incident? He tried to save someone else’s life and then also his own. So, it also makes us question how different Sebastian’s sense of self-importance is from Jordan’s. There are also nuggets of insights about the changing world. In the end, when the police arrive at Sebastian’s house, Jordan wears a hoodie that says, ‘You Matter, Don’t Give Up.’ However, its awkward placement may also confuse someone into reading it as ‘You Don’t Matter, Give Up.’
While it can be seen just as a nihilistic meme, it is also Jordan’s unawareness about the things he preaches – about the value of life. While these quotes are catchy and memorable, they seem more performative than helpful. On the other hand, it can also be seen as the film juggling between these two schools of thought – optimism and pessimism. It is absolutely possible that I may be reading too much into this detail, and the hoodie may just have been something they chose without such consideration. But it certainly added a touch of satirical humor to my viewing experience.
