Skin
Jour De Fete | Release Date: October 30, 2009 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
62
METASCORE
Generally favorable reviews based on 16 Critic Reviews
Positive:
10
Mixed:
5
Negative:
1
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
100
Chicago Sun-TimesRoger Ebert
This great film by Anthony Fabian tells this story through the eyes of a happy girl who grows into an outsider. Read full review
83
Entertainment WeeklyClark Collis
A tragic, enraging, and uplifting tale. Read full review
75
Christian Science MonitorPeter Rainer
Inherently dramatic but needed a stronger director than Anthony Fabian, who overdoes understatement. Read full review
75
San Francisco ChronicleWalter Addiego
Director Anthony Fabian lets the story sell itself, and it does so partly on the strength of the lead performance by Sophie Okonedo. Read full review
75
Washington PostMichael O'Sullivan
If you didn't know that it was based on a true story, Skin would be a little hard to believe. Read full review
70
The Hollywood ReporterMichael Rechtshaffen
The fact that it's actually based on a true story adds an extra layer of poignancy, heightened further by another superb Sophie Okonedo performance. Read full review
70
VarietyDennis Harvey
One of the more bizarre illustrations of racial injustice under apartheid is dramatized in Skin. Read full review
70
Village VoiceElla Taylor
This workmanlike, but enormously moving, movie makes the case that apartheid really does control her life, even her decision to rebel and get involved with a black man. Read full review
70
Chicago ReaderAndrea Gronvall
Ella Ramangwane gives a fine performance as the young Sandra. Read full review
63
Philadelphia InquirerCarrie Rickey
Skin is both exasperatingly choppy and exceptionally moving. Read full review
60
New York Daily NewsJoe Neumaier
A little more variation in the script, though, might have yielded something truly great. Read full review
50
The New York TimesManohla Dargis
Alas, Mr. Fabian, directing his first feature-length fiction film, uses a club whenever a feather would do. He also mishandles the actors, in particular Mr. Neill and Ms. Okonedo, both of whom have been incomparably better elsewhere. Read full review
50
Los Angeles TimesBetsy Sharkey
Too many of the characters are either good or bad, and that loss of nuance is missed. Read full review
50
New York PostV.A. Musetto
The direction is never more than conventional, with a tear-inducing finale better suited to a TV soap opera. Read full review
40
Time OutKevin B. Lee
The story is too rich in incident for Fabian, whose episodic TV-movie approach speeds through Laing’s lifetime of abuse. Read full review
38
Boston GlobeWesley Morris
It’s a fascinating story: part genetic mystery, part socio-racial tragedy. However, Laing’s life, despite its inherent melodrama, does not automatically lend itself to the screen. Read full review
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