Rotting in the Sun

Chilean-born writer-director Sebastián Silva (Crystal Fairy & the Magical Cactus) turns the camera hilariously on himself in this story of a frustrated, Ketamine-addled artist who escapes to a gay nude beach for rest and relaxation only to collide head-on with gregarious Instagram influencer Jordan Firstman (also playing himself), who promptly ingratiates himself into Silva’s life. Intending to collaborate on a project, Firstman decamps to Mexico City — where the emotionally exhausted Silva is nowhere to be found. As Firstman’s investigation into his friend’s disappearance plays out on social media, the influencer grows skeptical of Silva’s skittish cleaning woman Vero (Catalina Saavedra) and best friend Mateo (also playing himself). At once a skewering of the gay creative class, a portrait of an artist under duress, and a generational mystery-comedy in the vein of Search Party (on which Firstman is credited as a writer), Rotting in the Sun is a riotous blast of being and nothingness from a world-class auteur of cringe comedy.