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Sophie Okonedo, Sam Neill, Alice Krige, Tony Kgoroge, Hannes Brummer ... see more see more... , Ella Ramangwane , Danny Keogh , Ruaan Bok , Bongani Masondo , Kate-Lyn Von Meyer , Terri Ann Eckstein , Jonathan Pienaar , Ben Botha , Morne Visser , Burger Nortje , Gordon van Rooyen , Tumi Morake , Zamanthebe Sithebe , Faniswa Yisa , Nomhle Nkonyeni , Simon Mdakhi , Cobus Venter , Leana Tryttsman , Anna-Mart van der Merwe , Karien Van Der Merwe , Kaylim Willet , Onida Cowan , Lauren Das Neves , Gladys Mahlangu , Nicole Holme , Zoea Alberts , Duane Saayman , Thami Baleka , Valesica Smith , Graeme Bloch

A dark-skinned girl born to white South African parents attempts to explore her identity in the era of apartheid as her government, her parents, and society as a whole struggle with what it means to b... read more read more...e a black child of Caucasian descent in a nation deeply divided by race. The year is 1955. Sandra Laing (Sophie Okonedo) has just been born to a pair of white Afrikaner parents, her brown skin and curly hair the surprising result of genetic throwback. As the government's rigid apartheid system struggles with whether to classify Sandra as white or black, the young girl and her parents gradually realize that the complications they face due to her appearance run deep and wide. Sandra lives in a society where the color of your skin determines the outcome of your life, and though she is eventually granted admission to an all-white school, she suffers endless torment from her intolerant classmates. Her father, Abraham (Sam Neill), is having a particularly difficult time accepting his daughter. Despite the fact that tests indicate he is her biological father, the neighbors constantly whisper behind their backs. And while Sandra's mother (Alice Krige) does her best to provide her daughter with understanding and emotional support, those consolations come at a high price for both mother and daughter. Her parents believe it's their daughter's birthright that she live as a white woman, though only after she grows up and falls in love with a black man will the conflicted Sandra finally find the strength to embrace her true identity as an African woman. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

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78% liked it

1,737 ratings

Critics

85% liked it

61 critics

PG-13, 1 hr. 47 min.

Directed by: Anthony Fabian

Release Date: October 30, 2009

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DVD Release Date: February 1, 2011

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Flixster Reviews (155)

  • itsjustme2004
    August 29, 2011
    itsjustme2004
    Based on a true story. This movie really makes one re-think what they "know", and "believe", about race. This lady's story is truly a sad, and unjust one, and prompted me to research apartheid era racial classification tests, and the life of Sandra Laing. This unusual case really... read more highlights the effects of South Africa's racial classification system. Very interesting story with actual footage at the end of her, and her white family.
  • paulsandberg
    August 22, 2011
    paulsandberg
    I usually approach docu-dramas cautiously - they can certainly be a mixed bag, where the story usually trumps any attempt at creating art; thankfully Skin, due to the very nature of its story, is so compelling that it transcends the genre.

    Telling the story of a 1960's South A... read morefrican girl, born to white Afrikaner parents, Skin shows us apartheid up close and personal, since Sandra, the young girl in question, appears to be "black". The story shows it all, how the government's rigid yet ridiculous determinations of race affect both sides of the equation, leaving Sandra an outcast in both worlds. The story focuses on Sandra as she grows up - from getting tossed from an all white (segregated due to Apartheid) school due to her appearance, to her late teen years as her white parents try to hook her up with suitable white suitors. Ultimately she falls for a black man who seems the only man who can make her smile. When her father finds out he has his own daughter arrested - since doing the horizontal with someone not of your race is considered a moral crime.

    What strikes you most, aside from the austere terrain, is how Sandra is a woman with one foot in each world, and yet an outcast in both. By law she cannot marry outside her race, so the children she produces with her black "husband" are considered an affirmation of her lawlessness, and is always aware that the government can step in at any moment and take her children from her. And yet she "looks black" so cannot find a good "white" job, or fit in with white society.

    The story is heartbreaking showing not only Sandra's strong character, but how a system can destroy - case in point is the destruction of Sandra's black shanty town; not only do the bulldozers level the place (so white folk can develop the area), but they also destroy the dreams and ultimately the soul of Sandra's man - as well as the formerly loving relationship they had together.

    There was no reason for any of this, and yet bigotry still runs rampant, each generation instilling the same fear and apprehension of things we find different from ourselves.

    I found the performances profound throughout, especially that of Sophie Okonedo as Sandra and Alice Krieg as her mother, caught in two hells - the one concerning the color of her daughter's skin and a second as a 1960's wife who must meekly obey her husband, though it breaks her heart to do so.

    A thought provoking film on so many levels - this should be required viewing for all early teens.
  • jennifxu
    April 29, 2011
    jennifxu
    The best moments of "Skin" occur in the background depiction of the country itself. South Africa fairly shimmers beneath a sun-tinted lens, brimming from the tips of a wheat stalk to a scarlet patch on a headscarf with rich culture and change. If the rest of film were handled wit... read moreh such subtlety and attention, "Skin" would surely serve the purpose it was meant for, bringing attention to an imperative social issue.

    But subtle it is not. Sandra's father, Abraham Laing (Sam Neill, "Jurassic Park"), is an angry, racist maniac whose hate for his daughter and everything she represents is painfully transparent. His obsession with getting his daughter reclassified as white as a young child quickly escalates to insanity - banging things on the wall, screaming nonsensical obscenities and gesticulating wildly to his skin.

    Okonedo's portrayal of Sandra is no better. To whatever extent Neill overacts, Okonedo seems to withdraw from the screen with equal degree, with hunched back and morose looks. Fledgling director Anthony Fabian doesn't leave the film room to breathe for itself, and instead resorts to cheap tricks to hound sentimentality, when the story alone could have survived without manipulation. These exaggerated character polarizations scream their purpose loud and clear - racism is bad, bad, bad.

    "Skin" is a film that can raise a lot of good questions about race and skin color, at least on the premise of the true story that it was based on. The source material is rich with intricacies and brings attention to the poignant horrors of segregation and human rights abuse of the era. With its clunky, overwrought handling of apartheid, however, "Skin" is just one of the worst possible films that could've been made from it.
  • FiLmCrAzY
    July 9, 2010
    FiLmCrAzY
    i quite enoyed this movie, it was interesting and amazing how one women could go through all of that!
    Its an inspirational story and a more personnal take on the apartied which i really liked!
    A really intriguing true story movie and well acted and i love sam neill!
    but it doe... read moresnt have any emotion or enough (fictional) story to make this movie bette!
  • gator681
    November 1, 2009
    gator681
    Based on a true story, not a Nadine Gordimer short story, "Skin" is a disappointing and unsubtle, yet ultimately worthwhile movie, about Sandra Laing(Ella Ramangwane as a child; Sophie Okonedo as an adult) who is born with cafe au lait skin, in contrast to the paleness of her cau... read morecasian parents(Alice Krige & Sam Neill).(There is an actual condition called polygenic inheritance where because of the wide variety of genes inherited from different people, there may be some surprises down the line that have not been seen in a while.) Normally, this might only raise a few eyebrows but since the movie starts in 1964(and told in increments of about ten years) South Africa(I don't have to tell you what that means, do I?) the reaction is far worse. When young Sandra is sent away to school with her brother for the first time, she is sent home after an ugly incident and is reclassified from white to colored. Her father vows to fight, fearing she will be taken away but eventually the law is changed in their favor.

    Now, I was afraid how "Skin" would turn at this point but her parents are not as sympathetic as they first might have seemed, cutting down on the chance for any unfortunate grandstanding and speechmaking. Their only concern is for their daughter, not towards anybody else of color and Sandra, who is caught between two worlds, is deeply uncomfortable in her own skin. And the movie excels best in showing the human cost of the bureaucratic insanity(somewhere Kafka is smiling) of a government that can only see in black and white. Regretfully, in a movie about bigotry, why did all the women have to be saints while the men come off considerably worse? It is never quite that simple.
  • MOVEECRITIC
    December 18, 2009
    MOVEECRITIC
    Based on a true story, Skin was a movie that many would find unbelievable. How could two white parents have not one but two biologically black children? It could seem preposterous, inconceivable to people unfamiliar with genetics. But it is very plausible. Sandra story is a sad o... read morene. She lived most of her life as an outsider. She was not black yet she was unaccepted as white. This movie shows that besides color we, as a people, are truely not different and that we all are connected by our forefathers.

    **Sophie Okonedo is a brillant actress. Look forward to many more performances from her.
  • PinkMinkPrincess
    February 13, 2012
    PinkMinkPrincess
    This Film really took hold of my heart.Poignant True Story about a Colored girl,Sandra(Sophie Okonedo) born to White Parents(Sam Neill & Alice Krige) in 1955 South Africa during Apartheid.They try to send her to a White, Privileged School & a Government ,Legal,& Moral fight begin... read mores about whether she is black or white & can be taken from her parents.The Media escalates the issue, & lifelong internal, & family torment becomes this girls life.She suffers ridicule & hate from both races, & an identity crisis that is still relevant today.Her Parents want her to be White, & force her to date White Suitors, to disasterous results, & it is illegal for her to date or marry Black.She falls in love with a Black Man, & is imprisoned for it, & disowned by her Father & kept by him from her Mother.She goes to live with him in poverty, even with his baby, she cannot Marry him, because her parents had her classified her as White,so she is living illegally.The Superstitious Baby Daddy of her two children,Petrus(Tony Kgoroge) blames Sandra for all his, & their Villages, problems because she is "Bad Luck" & he becomes alcoholic & Beats her, forcing her to go on the run, but her Mother cannot help.Her life is a Struggle because she is caught between two Skin Colors.This Beautiful True Story touched me to my Core, everyone should see this as Prejudice hasn't evolved much in all these years.
  • ThomasJayWilliams
    November 13, 2011
    ThomasJayWilliams
    Skin is a movie that should have been so-much-more. The fascinating, true life story is told in a rather generic, uninteresting manner which is a shame. Sophie Okonedo (from the under-seen Dirty Pretty Things, the excellent Hotel Rwanda and the really bad Aeon Flux) plays Sandra,... read more a woman who was born to two white parents during the apartheid era of South Africa. What makes this unique is that Sandra is black and her two parents are white Afrikaners (genetic testing did prove them to be her biological parents). One can only imagine the turmoil the family must have gone through in this period of time in South Africa's history (an event like this would still be shocking in today's world) but the movie seems to surprisingly shy away from too much confrontation. Skin does show there to be family conflict over her skin tone since her father is racist; but the most startling obstacle (presented by the movie, anyway) is a young Sandra encountering a race-biased school teacher who punishes Sandra for no apparent reason other than his dislike of her skin by saying that she is a "distraction" to the other students at the school. The film is filled with missed opportunities to dive deeper into everyone's ordeal(s). Okonedo plays the part in a very quiet, subdued performance. She is fine; but she doesn't really shine in this role (she was wonderful in Hotel Rwanda). Jurassic Park's Sam Neill does a good job as the baffled and angry father. The mother is played by Alice Krige; but the character as written is at odds with herself and she doesn't work. It is too bad that Skin isn't a better movie -- it should have been a lot more compelling than it was. Real-life characters and situations that inspire motion pictures should always be interesting -- there is no doubt that Sandra is an intriguing story; but I think Skin failed her.
  • fletchandme
    August 20, 2011
    fletchandme
    Knowing nothing about the movie, I didn't realize it was based on an inspirational, yet sad and maddening true story, until the end when pictures are shown of the actual people portrayed in the movie. The performances were spot-on and the story is impressive, made more so by the... read more actual South African locations. I can't imagine what it would be like to be black in an unforgiving, hateful environment of 1960-1994 Apartheid-driven South Africa. This film adds another layer: disgust within a family when a white daughter is born with a black appearance and tears the family apart to this day.
  • chisomonthinda
    August 11, 2011
    chisomonthinda
    It is a very unique story and surprisingly true. I enjoyed it! the actors were convincing and everybody put forward a great effort towards telling this very unique story. I would watch if you're looking for a good drama.

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Critic Reviews

Wesley Morris
January 14, 2010
Wesley Morris, Boston Globe

Laing's life, despite its inherent melodrama, does not automatically lend itself to the screen. And without the aid of a smart script or a prevailing sense of delicacy, a movie about her or apartheid ... Full Review

Andrea Gronvall
December 15, 2009
Andrea Gronvall, Chicago Reader

Provocative. Full Review

Tom Long
December 11, 2009
Tom Long, Detroit News

Potent, still relevant and inspiring while maddening, Skin shows some of our best and much of our worst. Full Review

Rex Reed
December 10, 2009
Rex Reed, New York Observer

Every emotion is underscored with sugary music, every narrative plot progression telegraphed with the mechanical structural stiffness of a made-for-TV movie. Full Review

Colin Covert
November 12, 2009
Colin Covert, Minneapolis Star Tribune

It feels hurried, looks cheap, and works overtime to simplify a complex, flawed character into a noble, tragic heroine. The film speaks fluent cliché. Full Review

Roger Ebert
November 12, 2009
Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times

This great film by Anthony Fabian tells this story through the eyes of a happy girl who grows into an outsider. Full Review

Michael O'Sullivan
November 6, 2009
Michael O'Sullivan, Washington Post

What takes that story of heartbreak and makes it ultimately heartwarming is that Sandra's story, much like the history of apartheid itself, doesn't end there. Full Review

Cary Darling
November 6, 2009
Cary Darling, Dallas Morning News

By the end, the incredulity stems not from the fact that this happened but that the wider world didn't know about it before now.

Peter Rainer
November 6, 2009
Peter Rainer, Christian Science Monitor

Sophie Okonedo, so good in Hotel Rwanda, is fine here as well. Full Review

Walter V. Addiego
November 5, 2009
Walter V. Addiego, San Francisco Chronicle

Director Anthony Fabian lets the story sell itself, and it does so partly on the strength of the lead performance by Sophie Okonedo. Full Review

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Skin Trivia

  • True or false: The puppets used in Tim Burton's 'Corpse Bride' were made from stainless steel armatures covered with silicone skin.  Answer »
  • what movie is this quote from and who said it: I'm only laughing on the outside, my smile is just skin deep. If you could see inside I'm really crying, you might join me for a weep.  Answer »
  • In what movie was Windex a remedy to all skin problems?  Answer »
  • "Behind this mask is more than skin. Behind this mask is ideas, and ideas are bulletproof."  Answer »
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