He Took His Skin Off for Me

One of the most amazingly well made short films I've ever seen... discussing the consequences on the love life of a couple after the boyfriend takes off his skin and their social life. This movie is a real life piece of art that we see come to live, interact, communicate, love and smile. This was a very great decision of the director Ben Aston which made a character that should be frightening ,very adoring and lovable. The scenes are very intimate and there is a lot of great shots that tells so many stories inside of its details. Acting is so great, especially from the amazing Anne Maguire, who had the emotional side of the film on her, but with her great acting and her superb skills in the voice over as a narrator ,she really holds the film together. One of my favorite short films I've ever seen and beautiful made by a creative director.

I guess the title could not be more revealing to what this short movie is about. Obviously the poster also adds a note to that and should be an indicator if this offends you or makes you sick to your stomach. If you can't handle that, do not watch it, simple as that. The movie is not trying to fool you into watching it, it tells you what's inside (if you forgive the pun).

It's kind of like the saying, that tells us, that it's the inside that counts. And the movie goes deeper than just touching the ... skin of it. Obviously there is a lot of clichés that are being dissected (you can do lots of those, though the jokes of the movie are more sophisticated than that, because the movie is trying to tell us something). Love is touching ... and that can hurt ... more than you know

All men should get their skin out of them for the women they love, don't they? As a form of supreme sacrifice or the proof of supreme love, or both, however, they, the women, kill us slowly, through everything they do, right after the honeymoon ends... The film lacks what it should happened after the last scene: will she remove her skin for him too? I doubt that, I think she will prefer the divorce, in case they were married... Joke or no joke, reading the opinions of everyone on You-tube and IMDb, 99% did not understood anything. And somehow, rightly, because at least one aspect does not come out clearly from the film: the motivation for which him removes the skin. I'll try again to give an explanation. The reason is simple, those men who have not experienced True Total Love for a woman, have no way to know. The answer is that Love causes you to do such stupid things, such as even getting your skin out of you. I have to add that the movie has a very attractive and commercial title, which makes many to watch it. Last but not least, I can tell you that I've done something worse than taking my skin off for a woman, I married the woman, and not only one woman but two women...

There is a great piece of special effect work at the heart of this film. As the title suggests (states), the male character of the central couple, fully removes his skin for his partner – spending all but the opening seconds of the film as a glistening, bloody biological model of sorts. It is to the credits film that you get beyond this very quickly, and that I found that after a few shots where I focused on the technical aspect of it, really I was more drawn into the situation rather than the effects. The story is narrated by the woman of the couple; she is happy that he has done this for her, even though it has some downsides, however he changes through the film – clearly not happy with the change his sacrifice has brought compared to the interrelationship benefits which haven't really stepped up.

I will not say it is a perfect modern parable in this way, however there is a lot of interest to see this relationship where one of the partners has significantly changed himself for the benefit of the other. The sense of excitement early on is one thing, but with friends, with work, and just fundamentally within himself, he starts to be unhappy with the change – or rather the fact that he has given up so much and not seem to have had a lot back. The film doesn't push this onto us, but the woman of the couple does seem to have the easiest role, and although we hear her voice and not his, we do not see anything in her life where she sacrifices, apart from dealing with the impact of his new look on their furnishings.

It is patient as it does this, and I enjoyed the slow pace, and the fact that the film itself sits back with the woman as the narrator – letting us see things ourselves while also being within her perspective to a point. I would have liked that it maybe go deeper with this aspect, but it still works as a relationship study, albeit an extreme one. Technically the film is well made, and as good as the central effect is, I also enjoyed the attention to detail around the set, with bloody smears and marks. The two leads are very good, but ironically the film belongs to Maguire with her narration and ability to silently deliver feeling and thought. Armesto is solid but broader and more obvious with his emotions and, while the special effect is good, he doesn't totally act/move like he is wearing less, rather than more. Still, as a pair, they work very well together.

Initially arresting for its title and effects, it is a film worth getting into because there is an engaging and interesting relationship piece here – even if it is not a wholly successful one.

The poster grabs you and so does the blurb on a story about man without his skin and you decide you like to see this but then its all downhill thereafter. Ben Aston's short film lacks story, style and good acting. Playing more like a metaphor on a couple's life initially, it becomes all about the 'cool' effect of seeing a man in a muscle suit leaving blood marks everywhere and the wife having to always clean up after him. Seriously, where is the story? Even films made breaking conventional story telling rules have a strong story. This short doesn't do story. The blood stained muscle suit and props connect the dots without allowing us to invest in anything of the characters. The excessive use of voice-over like the blood marks turns what could have been a potentially good short into a silly and boring one.