Saturday, November 17, 2012

Penny Thoughts ‘12—True Skin (2012) ***


NR, 6 min.
Director/Writer/Star: Stephan Zlotescu

There’s a lot of buzz around Hollywood about this short film. It’s a sci-fi that imagines a future where body parts are sold as technological upgrades that prevent people from aging and succumbing to disease. In it, the hero obtains an upgrade that is supposed to be some sort of government secret, and he must go on the run.


It’s easy to see why Roger Ebert thinks this short is destined for a feature-length treatment. In fact, it sort of plays as if it’s trying to grab some backing attention for a longer treatment. The entire film really just functions as an introduction to the concepts of this future. It ends at a point that could easily be a launching point for a much larger story.

It lacks a little bit in story and even action, but it’s very well made. The choice to tell the audience everything through voice over narration is a little weak, but it allows us to get a great deal of information in a small amount of time. The visuals are really the film’s strength. This looks like a future world that could result in a sci-fi classic like “Blade Runner”. However, he handling of its plot also suggests it could fall short of greatness in a feature format, ala “Surrogates”. Which ever it ends up becoming, you can be pretty sure that a “True Skin” feature isn’t far from becoming a reality.

Watch the entire short film below.

TRUE SKIN from H1 on Vimeo.


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