‘Rotting in the Sun’ Review: Social Media Phenom Jordan Firstman Self-Parodies in Unhinged Indie Satire
variety.comManuel Betancourt “Only the optimist commits suicide, optimists who no longer succeed at being optimists.” The Emil Cioran line, introduced in the first scene of Sebastián Silva’s morbid black comedy “Rotting in the Sun,” initially feels like the key to understanding the Chilean filmmaker’s latest endeavor. “The others,” the quote continues, “having no reason to live, why would they have any to die?” More than merely placing suicide at the heart of Silva’s fictionalized take on himself, the quote’s pop intellectualism sets the tone for what soon becomes, in true Silva fashion, an absurdist meditation on death wishes, social media influencers (the film stars Jordan Firstman, also as himself) and 21st-century nihilism.
When we first see “Sebastián” reading Cioran, he’s in Mexico City. Adrift with his thoughts and seemingly uninspired, he’s more and more drawn to the idea (if perhaps not the actual reality) of killing himself.
From what he gathers, it’s easy to get phenobarbital in Mexico — an easy way to guarantee going into a slumber he’ll never wake up from.
His friends insist instead he just whisk himself away to Zicateca for some much needed time away from his diet of poppers and Ketamine.
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