Skin Deep

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2:01

Skin Deep

2024

1h 43m

Drama

Fantasy

Romance

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Tomatometer

Popcornmeter

96%

Tomatometer

23 Reviews

55%

Popcornmeter

Fewer than 50 Ratings

Seeking a retreat where they can salvage their struggling relationship, young couple Leyla (Mala Emde) and Tristan (Jonas Dassler) travel to a remote island at the invitation of Leyla's childhood friend Stella, where it soon becomes clear that what the island offers is more mysterious than a simple vacation. Leyla and Tristan join another couple in a ritual to exchange bodies and see the world through the eyes of someone else -- a chance to find themselves or, for some of them, a chance at escape. Free from the constraints of her former body, Leyla quickly finds she has never been happier, with a fresh outlook on life and a new sense of release and fulfillment. But when she refuses to return to her old self, the situation threatens to spiral out of control. Subverting genre and gender as it toggles from body swap thriller to intimate relationship drama, Skin Deep tells a story that transcends bodies, embracing the endless fluid possibilities in the question of what it means to truly love someone.

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David Ehrlich

IndieWire

02/02/2024

B

Skin Deep offers only the most glancing answers to any of those questions, as the movie is understandably a lot more interested in asking them than it is in trying to force its characters towards a contrived sense of enlightenment.

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Monica Castillo

RogerEbert.com

02/02/2024

3/4

For a modest sci-fi with next-to-no special effects, it’s remarkable how far Schaad can take his story and his audience on this emotional journey with Leyla.

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Alissa Wilkinson

New York Times

02/01/2024

With the ability to switch taken for granted, it goes deeper into its premise, emerging with unsettling and profound thoughts about love, and trauma, and gender, and intimacy.

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Hayley Croke

Loud and Clear Reviews

10/20/2024

3/5

Skin Deep is sensitive in its questioning of what it means to be happy with oneself... It’s a new type of coming-of-age story, a new and literal exploration of what it means to watch someone become comfortable in their own skin.

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Connor Lightbody

TAKE ONE Magazine

07/04/2024

2/5

There’s an unfortunate scarcity of finesse to this analogy. SKIN DEEP has high ambitions but...a lack of attention in navigating the finer elements of body dysmorphia squanders the film’s intriguing premise.

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Robert W. Monk

Flickering Myth

03/26/2024

An unexpected gem of a film covering a rich tapestry of intellectual and metaphysical quandaries, this ‘extreme couples therapy’ discourse is well worth consideration.

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Kyle M

@RT77296778 Mar 15

Really put inner beauty in another perspective. Nearly absorbs on speculative cinema veins, which could’ve made this into a trippier existential divulgence without the expected psychological spiral, the impeccably cast film dissects and blends gender and identity with (potentially) thought-provoking precision towards a satisfying payoff to solidify its topical reverence. (B)

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Maren S

@RT99297811 Sep 19

Stellar Performances by the actors, especially Mala Emde, and great directing that never makes you confused as to who is who even with all the body swapping. Also one of the Most Beautiful love scenes I have ever seen in a movie.

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Alex Schaad

Director

Jonas Dassler

Tristan

Mala Emde

Leyla

Dimitrij Schaad

Mo

Thomas Wodianka

Roman

Maryam Zaree

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Skin Deep: Trailer 1

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Synopsis

Seeking a retreat where they can salvage their struggling relationship, young couple Leyla (Mala Emde) and Tristan (Jonas Dassler) travel to a remote island at the invitation of Leyla's childhood friend Stella, where it soon becomes clear that what the island offers is more mysterious than a simple vacation. Leyla and Tristan join another couple in a ritual to exchange bodies and see the world through the eyes of someone else -- a chance to find themselves or, for some of them, a chance at escape. Free from the constraints of her former body, Leyla quickly finds she has never been happier, with a fresh outlook on life and a new sense of release and fulfillment. But when she refuses to return to her old self, the situation threatens to spiral out of control. Subverting genre and gender as it toggles from body swap thriller to intimate relationship drama, Skin Deep tells a story that transcends bodies, embracing the endless fluid possibilities in the question of what it means to truly love someone.

Director: Alex Schaad
Producer: Tobias Walker, Philipp Worm
Screenwriter: Alex Schaad, Dimitrij Schaad
Distributor: Kino Lorber
Production Co: Walker Worm Film, Donndorffilm
Genre: Drama, Fantasy, Romance
Original Language: German
Release Date (Theaters): Feb 2, 2024, Limited
Release Date (Streaming): Apr 2, 2024
Box Office (Gross USA): $10.3K
Runtime: 1h 43m