Jump to the good stuff: The Story | Some Thoughts | The Final Verdict
The Story:
Rotting in the Sun is a dark comedy directed by Sebastián Silva that involves murder, thoughts of suicide, and drug use.
The film is about a depressed filmmaker, Sebastián Silva, who has suicidal thoughts and abuses ketamine. Sebastián lives in a building that’s being renovated and is owned by his best friend, Matteo (Mateo Riestra). His housekeeper is Vero (Catalina Saavedra), a middle-aged, clumsy and scatterbrained woman. When she ruins a series of wet paintings by stacking them on top of each other, she’s concerned that Matteo will fire her.
Unsure of what to do with himself, Sebastián takes a trip to a gay clothing optional resort. He meets Jordan Firstman, a popular social media influencer. Jordan recognizes Sebastián and insists that he work with him on an idea he has for a show. But Sebastián is turned off by Jordan and doesn’t think he has any talent.
Sebastián goes home and pitches some HBO execs on a new show, which doesn’t go well. He mentions the possibility of working with Jordan Firstman on a project, and the execs love the idea. So Sebastián contacts Jordan, asks him to fly to Mexico City and stay with him while they work on the project.
Jordan will need a place to sleep, so Sebastián has Vero help him move a sofa down from the rooftop storage. While moving the sofa, Vero pushes when she should have paused, and Sebastián falls to his death.
Afraid the police will think she killed him, Vero hides the body. When Jordan arrives, he asks where Sebastián is, but nobody knows. Vero says he went out, and when he doesn’t arrive, Jordan thinks he’s been ghosted. It isn’t until he finds Sebastián’s phone and journal that he starts to suspect that something more sinister is at hand.
Some Thoughts:
Rotting in the Sun is shot with a sense of realism that is heightened by the fact that Sebastián Silva and Jordan Firstman are playing characters that resemble themselves and use their names. This makes the film incredibly self-aware and bold.
There’s a good amount of nudity and sexual situations in Rotting in the Sun, and none of it feels out of place. There are plenty of highly sexual men who are not ashamed of who they are, and it’s a welcome change to see films that don’t judge them. And much like Stranger by the Lake, the naked men in this film are not buff and built, which is always welcome.
For a film like this to work, the acting needs to be on point, and it is. The cast understands the project and each of them delivers fine performances.
Even though so much of Rotting in the Sun works, I couldn’t enjoy it. All of the characters are vapid, self-centered, and loathsome. In fact, they’re so repugnant that they kill any joy from an inventive story. I’m not saying the film can’t work because of this, there are plenty of dark comedies that depict awful people. What this film needs is a strait-laced character for the wretchedness to play off of. Shows like Absolutely Fabulous did this very well with Saphron and the grandmother.
The Final Verdict:
Despite having good writing, acting, cinematography, and direction, Rotting in the Sun can’t rise above the awfulness it puts on the screen disguised as dark humor. For a comedy to work, it needs to be funny, and Rotting in the Sun is humorless.