40
The story is too rich in incident for Fabian, whose episodic TV-movie approach speeds through Laing’s lifetime of abuse.
What are people saying?
What are critics saying?
50
Los Angeles Times by Betsy Sharkey
Too many of the characters are either good or bad, and that loss of nuance is missed.
70
One of the more bizarre illustrations of racial injustice under apartheid is dramatized in Skin.
60
New York Daily News by Joe Neumaier
A little more variation in the script, though, might have yielded something truly great.
50
The New York Times by Manohla Dargis
Alas, Mr. Fabian, directing his first feature-length fiction film, uses a club whenever a feather would do. He also mishandles the actors, in particular Mr. Neill and Ms. Okonedo, both of whom have been incomparably better elsewhere.
70
The Hollywood Reporter by Michael Rechtshaffen
The fact that it's actually based on a true story adds an extra layer of poignancy, heightened further by another superb Sophie Okonedo performance.
75
Christian Science Monitor by Peter Rainer
Inherently dramatic but needed a stronger director than Anthony Fabian, who overdoes understatement.
50
The direction is never more than conventional, with a tear-inducing finale better suited to a TV soap opera.