Short Film: He Took His Skin Off for Me (2021)

  • Directed by Ben Aston
  • Written by Maria Hummer, Ben Aston
  • Stars Sebastian Armesto, Anna Maguire
  • Run Time: 11:20
  • Link: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z0p72xqbYBE]

Synopsis

A man asks his girlfriend, “would you like me to take my skin off,” to which she replies, “Yeah,” and just like that, he does it. He’s red and juicy, with all the muscles showing. “I could see everything; he’s beautiful,” says the woman. They then have sex, of course, he’s a bit more naked than she is.

But there were problems. Every morning, the sheets were bloody and needed washing, not to mention bloody hand and footprints everywhere.

He’s always cold, and there’s just blood everywhere. He’s having trouble at work with clients. She starts pinching at her own skin. Where is this leading?

Commentary

This looks excellent; the body makeup is excellent, matching or exceeding Frank from [Hellraiser]. There are a lot of clever little details here, like the body-shaped outline on the sofa and the skid marks on the stairway railing.

The narrator gives the whole thing a fairy-tale feeling, but the couples’ emotional decline into more and more unhappiness is definitely not a fairy tale. Was the ending happy? I’m not sure…