OK for kids 15+
Intense family drama about race, identity during apartheid.
What Parents Need to Know
Parents need to know that Skin is a complicated drama about racial politics and family relationships that follows a girl born to white parents but who has a dark complexion and black features. Set in South Africa during apartheid, the film deals with heavy and complicated themes that younger children may not quite grasp. But teens will appreciate the message -- that identity is much more than just skin deep. Expect scenes of explicit bigotry and some racially motivated violence.
- Families can talk about apartheid. What do you think about this policy of institutionalized racism? How does it compare to periods of U.S. history?
- How does Sandra's story illustrate the complicated definition of race? What kinds of questions does her story bring up?
The good stuff
-
Messages: The movie offers the powerful message that strength can be found from within. But it also suggests that while parents may be well-meaning, they don’t always do the right thing and are sometimes too weak to fight an entrenched, unjust society.
-
Role models: Sandra is strong and hopeful despite setbacks. She clearly knows who she is, which sees her through good times and bad. Her parents are more complicated figures, whose decisions are sometimes based on fear.
What to watch for
-
Violence: Several disturbing scenes of bigotry. A teacher uses corporal punishment in the classroom. A man arms himself with a gun to protect his family. A child rubs bleach all over herself in an attempt to make her skin whiter. A mother slaps her daughter. A man fires a gun at another man, who is later beaten by cops. A ritual involves cutting a baby’s skin. A man breaks a car window and menacingly touches his wife. Cops ransack and raze a village. A man beats his wife.
-
Sex: A half-dressed man caresses a fully clothed woman. Lovers are shown lounging in bed under covers, their shoulders bare.
-
Language: A man calls a woman a “bitch” after she resists his unwanted advances.
-
Consumerism: Not an issue
-
Drinking, drugs and smoking: A man drinks beer at home.
Fan Reviews provided by
5
Wow, very powerful and moving! by njmoviefan
This is a must see! Wow! What a great and compelling film! Very powerful and moving! Extraordinary acting! Based on a true story from Apartheid-era South Africa. The story follows the life of Sandra Laing, who was a dark skinned girl born to white parents in a racially divided South Africa.
5
Skin by cplotkin
A beautifully conceived and executed film, and a deeply moving one. It would have been easy to overdraw the pathos and oversimplify the conflicts. Instead, the director and actors let the story and human contradictions express themselves with terrible directness. The ending, however,--the final minutes of the film--seems falsely uplifting.
5
Skin by mmattin459
Amazing story. I am so glad a friend of ours told us to go and see it.
5
Five Word Review by Drez_Digital
a female's battle through exceptance