Skin (2018 feature film)

Skin is a 2018 American biographical drama film written and directed by Israeli-born filmmaker Guy Nattiv. The film stars Jamie Bell, Danielle Macdonald, Daniel Henshall, Bill Camp, Louisa Krause, Zoe Colletti, Kylie Rogers, Colbi Gannett, Mike Colter, and Vera Farmiga. The film is inspired by the true story of an American neo-Nazi skinhead named Bryon Widner.

Skin had its world premiere at the 2018 Toronto International Film Festival on September 8, 2018 and was released on June 27, 2019 through DirecTV Cinema before a wide release on July 26, 2019 by A24.

Plot
After a recent incident, which involves the burning of a mosque in his hometown, disillusioned Neo-Nazi skinhead Bryon Widner (Jamie Bell) decides to leave the white supremacist movement. He marries local resident Julie Price (Danielle Macdonald) and begins to work odd jobs alongside undocumented workers, who begin to accept him due to his decision to stop being a racist.

White supremacist members retaliate by shooting out his home with him and a pregnant Julie inside, but both are unharmed. When Bryon steps out to confront them, he sees his dog hanging from a tree. To prevent the supremacists from doing further harm to his family, Bryon meets with political activist Daryle Lamont Jenkins (Mike Colter) and FBI agent Marks (Mary Stuart Masterson). Using information Bryon has provided them, the FBI raids the white supremacist compound. Krager (Bill Camp), one of the supremacists, is arrested.

In the aftermath of the supremacist raid, Jenkins continues heading the One People's Project and remains good friends with Bryon. Bryon himself undergoes two years of surgeries to have all his face and hand tattoos removed. He works on getting a degree in criminal psychology and speaks around the country about tolerance and inclusion from his own experience.

Cast

 * Jamie Bell as Bryon "Pitbull" Widner
 * Tyler Williamson as young Bryon Widner
 * Vera Farmiga as Shareen Krager
 * Danielle Macdonald as Julie Price
 * Mike Colter as Daryle Lamont Jenkins
 * Bill Camp as Fred "Hammer" Krager
 * Mary Stuart Masterson as Jackie Marks
 * Daniel Henshall as Slayer
 * Ari Barkan as Bulldog
 * Justin Wilson as Mike
 * Scott Thomas as Sean
 * Michael Villar as Jerry
 * Rob Figueroa as Prophet
 * Russel Posner as Gavin
 * Louisa Krause as April
 * Zoe Colletti as Desiree
 * Kylie Rogers as Sierra
 * Colbi Gannett as Iggy
 * Jaime Ray Newman as Nurse Melissa Frye
 * Jenna Leigh Green as Rebecca Ramos

Production
On May 11, 2017, international rights to Skin was bought by Seville International at the 70th Cannes Film Festival. In August 2018, it was reported that composer Dan Romer would be scoring the music for the feature.

In May 2017, it was announced that Jamie Bell and Danielle Macdonald would star in the film, with Nattiv writing the screenplay, producing and directing. In March 2018, after production on the film had started, Vera Farmiga was announced to have joined the cast of the film, with Nattiv's wife Jaime Ray Newman reported to be producing. That same month, Mike Colter was cast as Daryle Lamont Jenkins, founder of the One People's Project. Shortly thereafter, actors Ari Barkan, Scott Thomas, Daniel Henshall, Michael Villar, Justin Wilson, and Russel Posner joined the cast.

Principal photography began in January 2018 in Kingston, New York, and was completed in March 2018.

Release
Skin had its world premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival on September 8, 2018. Shortly after, A24 and DirecTV Cinema acquired distribution rights to the film. It was released through DirecTV Cinema on June 27, 2019, and had a limited release on July 26, 2019.

Critical response
Skin holds approval rating on review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, based on  reviews, with an average of. The site's consensus reads: "Skin could stand to go a bit deeper below its surface, but a worthy story and a committed performance from Jamie Bell make this timely drama well worth a watch." On Metacritic, the film holds a rating of 58 out of 100, based on 20 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews".