Skin
2019 · 12m · UK
Directed by Daisy Stenham
Tones: melancholic, mythic, tender
In a near-future world where technology has eroded personal privacy, a grief-stricken man named Nathan is visited by a virtual Chief Happiness Officer dispatched to help him cope with loss and alcoholism.
Picked by Zoe
The scouts
Tom Sturridge being sad while a Chief Happiness Officer hovers — Black Mirror's lunch leftovers, served on prestige china. The dystopia is so tasteful it forgets to bite.
A Charlie Brooker-flavored wellness-surveillance premise with Tom Sturridge as a grieving alcoholic — the conceit is familiar from Black Mirror but compressed into eleven minutes it could land sharply. Cautiously interested.
Tom Sturridge as a grief-stricken man visited by a virtual Chief Happiness Officer is a smart, compact dystopia at 11 minutes — wellness surveillance as the next stage of bereavement is a sharp screenplay hook. Klipist's praise is mostly thematic, but Sturridge's casting alone signals the performance carries weight.
Reviews
A monumentally moving experience. Beautifully written, filmed, performed and directed. So very special.
Festivals
- Kashish Mumbai International Queer Film Festival
- Cambria Film Festival 2021
- Newport Beach Film Festival 2020