American Skin (film)

American Skin is an upcoming American drama film written and directed by Nate Parker. It stars Parker, Omari Hardwick, Larry Sullivan, Theo Rossi and Beau Knapp.

The film had its world premiere at the Venice Film Festival on September 1, 2019.

Premise
Lincoln Jefferson, a U.S. Marine veteran who works as a janitor at a prestigious junior high school, attempts to mend his relationship with his son after a divorce. One night, during a routine police traffic stop, the boy is shot and killed in front of Jefferson. After the officer is cleared of wrongdoing without having to face trial, Jefferson is forced to take matters into his own hands.

Cast

 * Nate Parker as Lincoln Jefferson
 * Omari Hardwick as Omar Scott
 * Larry Sullivan as Clay Dwyer
 * Theo Rossi as Officer Dominic Reyes
 * Beau Knapp as Officer Mike Randall
 * Michael Warren as Melvin
 * Shane Paul McGhie as Jordin King
 * Milauna Jackson as Tayna Jefferson

Release
The world premier of American Skin was held at the Venice Film Festival on September 1, 2019.

Reception
American Skin received many different reactions. The Hollywood Reporter reported that American Skin was cheered by the Venice Audience and received a seven-minute standing ovation. Spike Lee appreciated the film, describing it as “a brave tour de force,” adding: “I haven’t been affected by a film like this on so many levels in a long, long time. It is my hope and prayer that the movie audience will understand this battle between love and hate, which has divided our world. Bravo Nate, bravo.”

More negative was IndieWire's David Ehrlich describing it: "like a cross between Frank Capra and Tommy Wiseau" and the film "is so bad that he deserves to be canceled on artistic grounds alone", rating it with a D grade. However, Owen Gleiberman of Variety (magazine) praised the film. "It’s a good movie: tense, bold, angry, empathetic, provocative, observant, morally engaged," he wrote. "And also, to be honest, a trifle gimmicky. Yet that’s tied to its power as a racially charged, socially urgent gut-punch drama." Gleiberman added: "The script - is what I associate with a certain kind of powerful playwriting, as in a drama like 12 Angry Men. The dialogue of is searing, forceful, edge-of-the-brain topical." Adding: "it stands as a testament to Nate Parker’s urgency as a filmmaker, and it’s a movie that I think a great many people will want to see."

Elisabeth Sereda of the Golden Globe Awards hailed American Skin as "a lesson in race relations in a country with a current government that is not famous for knowing or caring much about this topic." Sereda wrote: "The film is anything but predictable, and its message is far from the usual cliché we hear on the news." Alonso Duralde from The Wrap wrote that:"American Skin is a clunky, heavy-handed film that takes a pressing contemporary issue and flattens it under two genres the writer-director seems ill-equipped to handle — the mockumentary and the courtroom drama", adding that "There’s certainly an idea for a movie here, but it’s one that’s undercut at nearly every turn, from the straw-man/mouthpiece arguments Parker’s script puts into the mouths of most of the characters (including policemen and convicts alike) to the film’s periodic abandonment of the student-footage gimmick".

On September 7, 2019, American Skin was voted the "Best Film" in the Sconfini Section of the Venice Film Festival, becoming the first American film based on the theme of racial injustice to be awarded the prize.