ROTTING IN THE SUN is a darkly funny and refreshingly audacious meta-comedy that skewers the business of filmmaking and our self-obsessed culture, when Chilean writer-director Sebastián Silva hilariously turns the camera on himself, as he thunders through Mexico’s city streets and nudist beaches.

Depressed, doom-scrolling and downing absurd amounts of Ketamine, director Sebastián Silva takes a much-needed break from Mexico City to unwind at a gay beach town. There, he encounters gregarious Instagram influencer Jordan Firstman (also playing a derisive version of himself), and Sebastián reluctantly agrees to collaborate on an upcoming project. But when Jordan arrives in Mexico City to get to work on their project, Sebastián is nowhere to be found and his skittish housekeeper Vera (past Silva collaborator, Catalina Saavedra) seems to know more than she’s letting on. Jordan dances, sleeps and snorts his way through the city as he embarks on a quasi-detective journey to get to the bottom of Sebastián’s disappearance.

Silva’s fresh and funny black comedy skewers not only the business of filmmaking, that also highlighting the cross cultural tension of Americans in Latin America, and all that is lost in translation. Darkly funny, refreshingly audacious in its depiction of sex, and with pitch-perfect performances, this film is a wildly unconventional quasi-detective story from a master of cringe comedy, produced in collaboration with Robert Pattinson’s production company Icki Eneo.

Canadian premiere screening at Paradise Theatre (1006 Bloor St W, Toronto) was on August 31, 2023 at 8pm. which was followed by a virtual Q&A with filmmaker Sebastian Silva moderated by CBC Arts and Queer Cinema Club’s Peter Knegt. Info and tickets for other screening on Sept 7 and 10 can be found here.

This will be the only screening in Canada before the film stream exclusively on MUBI starting September 15, 2023. GET FREE 30 DAYS OF MUBI: mubi.com/Paradise

Director: Sebastián Silva
Cast: Jordan Firstman, Sebastián Silva, Catalina Saavedra, Juan Andrés Silva

About the Author

Bryen Dunn is a freelance journalist with a focus on travel, lifestyle, entertainment and hospitality. He has an extensive portfolio of celebrity interviews with musicians, actors and other public personalities. He enjoys discovering delicious eats, tasting spirited treats, and being mesmerized by musical beats.