Fest Track On Sirk TV Film Review: GOD SKIN [Fantasia Film Festival - Montreal, Quebec - Virtual]

"God Skin" [Horizon] as a movie blends a lot of different ideas into a hodge-podge of "Streetfighter" and would-be "Matrix" references to create a story of a delivery driver turned fighter seeking to make money to save his mom. What is interesting is that the first half of a movie works as an underdog story as Win (Gee Sutthirak Subvijitra) moves up the ranks, fighting different battles that seem like an amped up version of Punch Out. There are some cool technological elements and the integration of both nano bots and AR are definitely a way to integrate in the new era. The film at first seems more like a Scott Pilgrim story but Win is too strait laced. He has some kind of connection with Praewa (Minnie Phantira Pipityakorn) but also a protectiveness which steers him in interesting ways especially with a supposed ally called Nerdass.

But it is when a certain reality starts to shift that the film seems to get a different gear going. The film wants to be two separate things. It makes sense but there is also a double-barreled psychology that doesn’t quite add up. There are worlds within worlds but it all seems to exist on the same plane of reality so the differentiation is slight if at all. Once Win has a realization in a hospital, it seems like aspects within him come to a head especially with a big boss. But before that a locker room brawl feels much more lived in but also sets the stage for the final mind screw. Again the logic is sound but lacks a believability especially in how there is no kind of responsibility placed on the standards of play or who is allowed into this world as far as bettors. Like "Thunderdome", it is how one breaks the system. It is explained how and why it was created but ultimately the most intriguing question is whether Win ever existed. B

By Tim Wassberg