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Skins
Pieles
2017 78 min Spain 18+
★6.3
Drama, Comedy, Fantasy
Director: Eduardo Casanova
Trailers
Description
In a strange world where people share numerous deformities, the same problem we all face challenges each of them: to find someone who accepts you as you are. Sometimes, that means finding yourself first.
Starring
Ana Polvorosa
Actor
Carmen Machi
Actor
Macarena Gómez
Actor
Awards
Berlin International Film Festival 2017
— Best Debut
Goya Awards 2018
— Best Debut
Goya Awards 2018
— Best Debut Actress
Goya Awards 2018
— Best Makeup and Hairstyling
San Sebastián International Film Festival 2017
— Sebastian Prize
Key opinion
Pieles is a highly polarizing debut that uses visceral, grotesque imagery and a saturated pastel aesthetic to explore themes of physical abnormality and the human need for connection. While some viewers find its unconventional imagination and satirical depth compelling, others criticize the film for prioritizing shock value over substance, arguing that its stylistic choices risk trivializing the realities of disability.
| Production | The film employs a distinct, highly stylized visual language characterized by an immaculate pastel pink and violet color palette. | |
| Acting | The performances are surprisingly effective, with the cast successfully navigating the film's extreme physical prosthetics and makeup to deliver moving portrayals. | |
| Direction | The director's bold and imaginative approach to storytelling creates a unique, albeit challenging, cinematic experience. | |
| Theme | The use of the grotesque is divisive: supporters see it as a powerful metaphor for inner moral decay and the search for love, while critics view it as superficial provocation that borders on a 'freak show.' | |
| Screenplay | The narrative structure and content are polarizing, with some viewers finding the interwoven stories fascinating and others feeling they lack a clear, coherent message. | |
| Theme | The ethical framing is highly contentious, with some critics arguing that the film's lack of authorial condemnation regarding its darker subject matter undermines its humanitarian pretenses. |