See The Seedy Robotic Underbelly Of Bangkok In True Skin
Sometimes, a movie comes along that is just cool enough to make you think and just short enough not to take half a day to watch. That’s the case with True Skin, which is just a few minutes of very cool sci-fi action and world-building.
True Skin is all about renegade cyborgs roaming the seedy underbelly of a futuristic Bangkok where body modification has been elevated to an entirely new level.
If that’s not enough to pique your interest, the entire True Skin run time hovers around five minutes. What do you have to lose? Literally nothing and that’s why checking out True Skin is definitely worth your time.
In True Skin, this is a dazzling look at a bleak future where humans buy technological body enhancements like you would buy a new pair of shoes. Pure humans, or “naturals,” are relegated to the lowest caste of society, left to beg and die on the street.
From director Stephen Zlotescu, True Skin is a mad neon riff on classic sci-fi films in the vein of Blade Runner.
The look of True Skin is phenomenal. From the near-hallucinatory cityscape and partially augmented humans, to the technological black markets and fully synthetic prostitutes, the visual design is stunning. The film explores themes of sci-fi augmentation and the blurring lines between human and machine. And it’s all set against the backdrop of a vibrant and futuristic urban environment.
More than anything, this short feels like a trailer rather than a standalone story or at least a pitch video for a longer project. There is too much story and world-building detail to be explored in five minutes. With the protagonist’s constant narration, the end result comes across like someone summarizing a movie for a friend.
Back in 2016, there had been talk of True Skin actually becoming a feature film through Amazon Studios. But that hasn’t come to pass, and it seems unlikely anytime soon. It’s a shame too because this definitely had the look and feel of something that could have become much bigger. The rights have lapsed at multiple studios through the years though.
In all, True Skin gives us a five-minute taste of a very cool and slick world, something any Blade Runner fan could surely love. Unfortunately, this might be where it starts and stops. Maybe one day in the future, but True Skin at least gave this to look at for a time being.
