Movie Review - The Skin of the Teeth

It's not easy to place Matthew Wollin's debut feature into one category. Is it a drama? Is it a comedy? Is it a horror? Is it a fantasy? Arguably, Wollin's feature is all of the above or it's whichever the person watching wants it to be without anyone ever being wrong. It's one of those films that can double as a Rorschach test or work as a metaphor rather than a straight-forward narrative. Those types of films are in general known as surrealist cinema. American audiences aren't used to those types of films. Surreal films originated in Europe and out of French cinema and for the most part that's where those types of films stayed. People cite David Lynch as the major American director who popularized surrealist cinema on our shores, but other than that, we don't really get them here in the United States.

There have been other filmmakers who have integrated surreal elements into their films like Alfred Hitchcock in Spellbound (1940), David Cronenberg in Naked Lunch (1991), Michel Gondry in Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004) and Joshua Oppenheimer in The Act of Killing (2013). Normally, those surreal elements or surreal scenes aren't the main thrust, but cinematic flourishes here and there. Often, those flourishes are explained in the narrative as either dream sequences or the result of psychoactive drugs. Such is the case in Terry Gilliam's Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas (1998). Wollin takes a similar tact and justifies his surrealism here with having his protagonist use or abuse a chemical substance.

It's not very long and the whole film takes place in only two locations and involves a small cast. The film is basically divided into two sections. The first half feels pretty straight-forward. The musical score in the first, two minutes suggests an ominous foreboding, but it begins what could be a film about an interracial, same-sex relationship. Given that the first half of the film involves two men of different ages, it could have been a film tackling the issue of inter-generational dating. It could have been an exploration of the difference of gay men 20 years ago as opposed to now, contrasting the queer struggles of yesteryear with Millennial frustration today.

The second half though takes a turn. The surrealism isn't as grandiose or even as inventive as what Gilliam or Gondry would do. It's not as crazy. The tone is actually muted. It's not a bold, colorful and splashy spectacle. Wollin keeps it very simple with a lot of shadows or harsh lights, obscuring most of the frame. At most, the tone is just odd. Things just feel not quite right. It starts out as a plausible diversion. It gets more and more insane as it goes along, but it never goes way over the top. We're never thrust with images from Salvador Dalí like that of melting clocks or something from the Beatnik mind of William S. Burroughs like that of a talking anus. There aren't any special effects that are outstanding.

Pascal Arquimedes stars as Josef King, a young black man who was a receptionist but now works as a talent manager and associate producer in the film business. He goes over at night to an apartment in New York City to spend time with a seemingly middle-age white man named John. Josef is in his mid-twenties and John, though he looks very sexy, is probably in his late 40's or early 50's. John clearly has a good sense of who he is and has more confidence, as well as more liberal stances on issues like privacy. The surrealism Josef encounters tests or confronts either his issues of privacy or the aforementioned Millennial frustration in terms of his career or professional life, or lack thereof.

Because of the nature of the relationship that kicks off the film, possible issues of homophobia could also be inferred here. A moment where Josef has to strip nearly naked reminded me or had echoes of A Fantastic Woman (2017), which is particularly about transphobia, but the dehumanization or emasculation of gay men has been similar. A moment where Josef is being interrogated also reminded me or had echoes of London Spy, a BBC series about a gay man who becomes a murder suspect simply for no other reason than being gay.

Yet, all of these moments could also be a reflection of sheer racism about black men. The homophobia at play here could all be incidental. A stronger argument for racism could be made, especially toward the end when Josef puts on a white mask. The penultimate moment is about Josef wrestling with his identity and embracing the possible "white" part of himself. Wollin could be making a statement about white privilege and implicit bias against African-Americans. He simply takes a strange path to get there.

Not Rated but for mature audiences.
Running Time: 1 hr. and 19 mins.

In select theaters on May 10.
Available on DVD and VOD on May 14.