The title of this film doesn't give you a clue as to what it
wants to tell. "White Skin" opens with a conversation between two
friends, Thierry and Henri (yeah, those of you who know me will
know that I am grinning at this - Arsenal's star player is called
Thierry Henry, but no, it doesn't make any inference here), they're
talking about being coloured (Henri is black, Theirry is white),
and touch on racism.
This film doesn't pretend that it's not preaching about this topic,
but at times when they talk about it, you can't seem to help but
think the filmmakers are trying, though without success, to deliver
some kind of message across. Peppered throughout the show are
conversations that touch upon skin colour, race, "The Original
Man", etc.
But looking at the theatrical poster, one might be fooled into
thinking it's an out and out horror film about new vampires. It
isn't.
For those who dove head-on into this film, it'll be kinda confusing
at first, as the narrative at times doesn't seem to lead anywhere.
The first 5 minutes shows the chums engaging with hookers, and all
hell breaks loose when Henri is stabbed with a knife by one of the
prostitutes. It is also within this 5 minutes that we learn of
Thierry's dislike for brunettes (again, not that it is a major plot
point or adds to the narrative). However, he finds himself being
drawn towards a brunette called Claire in his University, whom he
fist laid eyes on when she was busking at the underground
metro.
They become bed buddies, and although Thierry wants more than sex
in a relationship, Claire seemed to be satisfied with the state of
things - kind of a role reversal here. She's hiding something from
him, and it's not until the last third of the film that we realize
what it is, and it's not cancer as originally thought. Sticking to
my concept of reviewing, I shall not dwell into the plot from this
point on, as it'll lead to major spoilers.
This show positions itself more as a thriller and not your outright
horror show with ugly monsters, musical crescendos, loud bangs at
right moments and blood splattering all over. We are left with
wondering what the big secret is, but the slow pace of the film
makes it quite a stretch in a theatre seat. Many subplots go
undeveloped, or gets lagged as a red herring. Things go full circle
when the chums get figuratively haunted by the prostitute who
stabbed Henri.
This is recommended for one of those lazy weekends when you really
got nothing else better to do. So set your expectations right, and
don't expect too many memorable scenes from this movie, though it
is compensated by a relatively good looking cast.