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The Man Who Sold His Skin Movie Review

The Man Who Sold His Skin is a 2020 Tunisian drama film directed by Ben Hania and starring Yahua Mahayni. It’s a movie that had a good concept, but far from great execution.

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“Don’t take it badly, okay?

Fuck you“

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A Syrian refugee in Lebanon allows his back to become a canvas for a famous tattoo artist. Soon, collectors become interested in this work of art. This premise is excellent, and at first the movie is actually quite fascinating in themes and subject matter. In particular, focusing on the complex notion of human dignity, the film reached great heights when dealing with this thorny issue, but the second half really wasn’t good.

This is one of those movies that easily could have been a short film. Nothing here screams feature movie treatment, and sure enough, the second half became tiresome and extremely repetitious in its plot points. It’s the same theme and the same conflict that was stretched beyond any reasonable runtime. It was undoubtedly begging for more story.

Yahua Mahayni is terrific in the role of Sam Ali. This is a very well written, complex character and following his plight was quite memorable. The movie would prove relatable to all refugees and it offers an interesting, albeit overly glossy look into the Syrian refugee experience.

Other characters are nowhere near as strong. Jeffrey as this frustrating artist needed more screen time, but was memorable. The girlfriend character was just okay and the romance was fine, but not the best part of the movie by any stretch of the imagination. The acting overall is quite good, but the characterization of the supporting players is not.

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The Man Who Sold His Skin is very well made in terms of its look especially. There are some very artistic choices here in terms of framing and long takes while the score is also solid. The direction is fine as well. This is the type of movie that can be appreciated for its themes and ideas, but it’s too messy for Oscar recognition. This unexpected fifth spot should have gone to a different movie.

The Man Who Sold His Skin is a film that had a great premise, but not a particularly good execution. In ideas and themes, it’s very strong. The central acting performance is excellent as is the film’s cinematography. But the second half dragged, it became rather repetitious and ultimately it would have been much better as a short rather than a feature movie.

My Rating – 3.5