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I was looking for this movie for more then a year. Now (1999) it is available in the original language with English subtitles in the Netherlands.

It is an excellent movie, especially for teenagers, which shows homosexuality as a natural choice or option when you are growing up. This is far closer to the real life then the image you often get from movies or TV. You can easily identify yourself with the 16 year old Sebastian and his friends. This movie will give you a good feeling if you are dealing with your sexual orientation.

I found this film very delightful to watch. It brought back many memories of my youth, which was not so different from that of Sebastian. Some reviewers give the film bad reviews due to the lack of drama in the film, and I can see how some people would expect much more from the film, but I still enjoyed it. True, at the end I was thinking "Is that all there is?" But the 2 main characters were so very, very appealing that I didn't mind. And the scene of them taking a bath together is definitely a must-see!

Nicolai Cleve Broch is one of the sexiest actors working today. The main drama of the movie is waiting to find out whether or not Broch's character is gay, too. I will not tell you whether he is or is not.

Only our friends in Scandinavia and Holland handle the topic of sexuality so well. I would have liked this film more if one or both of "the parents" had been somewhat more negative, making the film more realistic.

If you liked this one, try "Doing Time On Maple Drive", an American attempt at a similar plot, but I have to say, with more depth.

Basically I watched this movie because there was nothing else better on TV and because of pure curiosity. It sounded like a nice coming of age story, taking place in the summer and I thought it would be rather enjoyable. I was wrong.

Sebastian, the protagonist, is a teenager growing up in a Scandinavian idyll: His family is intact; he has a younger sister, a bunch of friends who love him and leads a normal life. Sebastian is about to become a man and as it is often the case with boys going on men he often locks himself in his room, thinks about the meaning of life and nearly drives his parents mad with his behaviour. One day, Sebastian finds out that he's gay. I don't want tell how this goes on because one more sentence and there you have the really stupid rest of the movie. Let me express it this way: Unlike other teenagers, Sebastian will not face any difficulties with his coming out and I suppose that even when he made a big poster having written "I am gay" on it and would parade with it through his village wearing a pink boa, still nobody would bother or say anything.

Being a teenager is sometimes hard enough – being 16 and facing the fact that one's gay is definitely not that easy. I don't mean to be dramatic – maybe there are enough gay teenagers whose parents and friends don't have a big problem with them being gay. But I know that in most cases it's a painful and difficult process – I speak from my own experiences. Therefore I think it's a shame how easy this process is portrayed in the movie – it is trying to imply that it's OK to be gay and come out with it – nobody will hate you for that and nothing will change. I mean of course it's OK to be gay, but you can't tell me that everyone will take it as if you tell them that the sky is blue. "Sebastian" is shallow, hypocrite, definitely not a big help for a teenager who comes in terms with his sexuality because it's unrealistic. I would even go so far and prevent them from watching it, or if they do, they just shouldn't take it seriously. Nice performances by the young actors, though.

It is like comparing Coca Cola with some no name coke drink. Both look the same, smell the same and taste sweet. But no other drink gives you the refreshing effect of the original. Same it is here: It seems to be a movie that shows a teenager coming in terms with his homosexuality. But there are much better movies dealing with this topic – I especially recommend "Beautiful Thing" and "Edge of Seventeen". Compared to those movies, "Sebastian" is the no name product – tastes too sweet and leaves no impression at all.

Wam & Vennerød have produced quite a lot of gay films over the years, and this one proved to be like its predecessors, it was so bad that it was entertaining, and not in any way managing to send out the message it was supposed to in a fashionable way.

To make it short, the plot is realistic, but it is carried off with an extremely superficial and cliché-ridden screenplay. The acting is not in any way credible, except if we are supposed to believe that the mother is psychopath. The cinematography is nice, but there are so many scenes that doesn't have anything to do with the story, and should have been edited away, but on the other hand the film would probably have been half an hour long or something like that. I guess that says it all; a very weak story, but the whole thing is very entertaining if you choose to watch it with such an attitude.

As a serious film with a serious message, it's worth nothing, but if you want to have fun, see it! If not, see "Beautiful Thing" 100 times before you dare laying your hands on this one!